IT IS SNOWING IN NEW YORK TODAY. Can you believe it? It's like the worst April Fool's joke ever! It's probably warmer where you are, but I wanted to share my recipe for a delicious soup that I made this week. Johnny's had a nagging cold and all he's wanted is soup. He was eating can after can of that nasty supermarket Chicken Noodle Soup that is so high in sodium and cholesterol. I couldn't stand to watch it anymore, so into the kitchen I went!
This recipe keeps it simple with classic, subtle flavors and lots of hot, delicious broth. Perfect for an unseasonably cold day or for the next time you catch a bug. The carrots mean this soup fulfills your daily RDA for Vitamin A and the Gardein adds a lot of protein.
The name is a tribute to the Bronx Zoo Cobra who escaped from her habitat this week and had the city going crazy! Her Twitter feed had me cracking up, she took a fictional tour of NYC while on the lam. My favorite tweets were: "Got a bagel at H & H Bagels on upper west side. When I ordered I said, 'I'll have the snakes on a PLAIN.' He did not laugh. Tough crowd." and "There are hundreds of sports bars in this city, but I can't find one reality show bar! Where am I gonna watch the Top Chef finale?!" And when Bergdorf's invited her to their store, she tweeted "If I recognize one belt..." HA! She was found yesterday safe and sound, turns out she never left the Reptile House, she was just playing an epic game of hide-and-go-seek. I think she'd appreciate this animal-free soup so, BZC, this one's for you.
Johnny gave the soup a "ten out of ten" review (WOW!) and was very grateful for it. He seems to be on the mend now, so I have a sneaking suspicion that my soup may have magical healing powers.**
**This claim has not been substantiated by the FDA. Yet.
Chick'n Noodle Ssssoup
Serves 8
2 vegan bouillon cubes (I used Rapunzel brand with Sea Salt & Herbs)
8 cups water
8 oz. dried farfalle pasta (may substitute other pasta if you wish)
1 package Gardein Chick'n Scallopini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 tsps fresh rosemary
2 tsps dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
First, make your broth by crumbling the bouillon cubes and adding to 4 cups of boiling water. (I do this in my big glass measuring cup.) Set aside and stir occasionally until bouillon has completely dissolved. Prepare your Chick'n by heating a medium skillet over medium heat for several minutes. Spray with canola or olive oil and add the Chick'n Scallopini, cooking on each side for 3-4 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat. When cool enough to handle, dice the Chick'n.
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent, but not browned, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the celery, carrots and herbs and cook for 5 more minutes or until celery and carrots are tender. Add the 4 cups broth and an additional 4 cups of water. Add the pasta and Chick'n and bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover, continuing to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with crackers or toasted bread.
Nutrition info per serving: Calories 197; Total Fat 4.5g; Saturated Fat 1g; Trans Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 708mg; Carbohydrate 28.8g; Dietary Fiber 3.4g; Sugars 3.1g; Protein 11.2g; Vitamin A 143%; Vitamin C 9%; Calcium 6%; Iron 23%.
Bonus dish! I made the Rustic Bread & Eggplant Lasagna from VeganYumYum this week and was blown away by how good it is! For some reason I thought it would be a quick dish to prepare, but 2 1/2 hours later I realized how wrong I was. Luckily, the hard work paid off. As the name indicates, it uses grilled bread instead of noodles and the result is like a savory bread pudding. The grilled bread soaks up the tomato sauce, but is in no way soggy, and the breadcrumbs on top give the perfect crunch. I honestly did not miss the cheese in this lasagna AT ALL! Try making it on a Saturday or Sunday when you have some leisure time to cook. (What the heck happened to VeganYumYum, BTW? It is one of the best vegan blogs ever, but Lauren hasn't posted anything since January 2010! Where'd she go? Still enjoying working through her archives, her food and photography are stunning!)
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| Wait a minute, that's not soup... |
I generally hate chicken noodle soup, but you've subbed out all the stuff I hate about it: usually the chicken is so gross and fatty that it makes me sick and the noodles are mushy and salt-saturated. This version looks so fresh and yummy -- much better than the meat-version.
ReplyDeleteLove the sound of your soup and that lasagna is mega impressive!
ReplyDeleteI about died when I discovered "Not-Chik'n" Bouillon. I think it's by Edwards & Sons? Sooo super rich, buttery and chickeny. Ever tried it? You'd probably really like that in this soup. All that said, my go to is actually the Rapunzel Sea Salt and Herb, that stuff is amazing! Not-Chik'n is definitely my second fave. My favorite use is adding it to quinoa as it simmers. Mmmm!
Jen - I couldn't agree more! The chicken in canned soup is generally so nasty I would eat around it. The Gardein chick'n products are shockingly good! They taste real, but there's no skin or gristle or anything weird :)
ReplyDeleteSarah - I DO love the Not-Chik'n Bouillon! I will have to pick some of that up again, it sounds like it would be awesome with quinoa! I kept buying veggie broth to make recipes, but that can get so expensive and I never use a whole carton so it's wasteful. I definitely prefer bouillon now!
That looks delicious Hal! But being as the temps are now soaring to 95+ here already, not sure when the next time I'll being the mood for chicken noodle soup might be though. Cute story about the snake. And clever name for the soup! Too cute!!
ReplyDeleteYour soup looks delicious! I love the idea of using farfalle.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Bronx Zoo cobra's Twitter, too! So funny. :) (I'm glad she was found safe, though.)
I absolutely adore VeganYumYum recipes! I have been meaning to make that rustic lasagna for years... I don't know why I haven't yet! Your photo is gorgeous.
Oh, and P.S. I have been wondering where Lolo/Lauren/VeganYumYum author is, too! She wrote a post about a year-and-a-half ago saying that writing her cookbook took a lot more out of her than she expected, and it sounded like she had kind of lost her passion for writing/sharing recipes. :( She later took the post down (not sure why), but yeah - no new posts in over a year! I have thought about emailing her to ask where she is because I miss her posts, but I don't want to pry...
ReplyDeleteI hope we get to try lots of new vegan food when we visit you guys! When we went to the Bay area last year, we tried a vegan soul food place, and it was great! I think Dave liked it more than I did (I was picky about which items on our giant sample platter I liked, but Dave loved everything). My kingdom for some of that mac and "cheese", yams or southern-fried tofu! :)
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