So I made some baked apples this morning for breakfast and then realized I could use the same pan to roast up a bunch of chicken for this week’s lunches. No, I didn’t wash it in between (who does that?) so there was still a little coconut oil, apple goop, and allspice left behind. No big deal or anything, but this is the best damned chicken ever. EVER.
Speaking of chicken…Ross and I are in a roast chicken phase. Like, at least once a week for the last couple months. Whole chickens are super cost effective, even if they’re free range and organic…which they should be because unhappy, drug-induced chickens are no bueno for a lot of reasons. But we all knew that. Anyway, lots of roast chicken means lots of opportunities to make some fresh chicken stock without an ass-ton of added sodium and Goodness knows whatever else goes into the canned stuff. So go roast a chicken and make stock out of its carcass. You know you want to.
And of course, Fall is upon us here in the Mid-Atlantic and so it Soup Season. How convenient! Stock = Soup. I do love a good bowl of soup when the weather gets cooler, and I love soup, too, because it’s so low maintenance. Chop, toss, boil, eat. Boom. This is my latest concoction and it turned out swimmingly. Full of veggies and enough heat to warm you up!
- 64 oz chicken stock, preferably home made
- 4 c kale, chopped
- 1 large butternut squash, cubed
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 pkg frozen sliced leeks (or other frozen veggies)
- 1 pkg frozen pearl onions (or other frozen veggies)
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T salt
- 1 T black pepper
- 2 Bay leaves
- 3 Jalapeno peppers, chopped
- 2 lbs chicken sausage, cooked
- Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a large stock pot.
- Add all of the ingredients, stirring to incorporate.
- Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and allow to simmer for at least 2 hours. The longer the better!
- (This can also be done in a crock pot.)
