Chicken soup for the soul....food share

 As you may recall, I do a food share with two other lovely ladies, which I blogged about previously here.

This week was my week to cook, and for some reason this dreary weather has me craving hearty soups. This chicken soup with vegetables, barley and legumes is a variation of my Mom's turkey soup (which she always makes after Thanksgiving and Christmas).

I started with 2 whole chickens (on sale at Loblaws this week!) which I cooked on low for 5 hours in my slow cooker in about 3 inches of water. Once the chickens are cooked, take them out and seperate the meat from the skin, bones, etc. Set the meat aside, and put the rest of the chicken back in the cooking liquid. Continue cooking this for a number of hours to create the best stock ever.

Once the stock is cooked, strain out the bones etc., and put the remaining liquid in the fridge over night. The fat will rise to the top, solidify, and be easily removed with a spoon. Dispose of it!

Bring the remaining stock to a boil. Add some sage, salt and pepper (I left this out so it would be kid friendly), and some gravy mix. Depending on how much soup you want to make, you can boil the stock down to make it more intense, or add some water or store-bought stock to make a bigger batch. Sorry I don't have measurements; I just do this all to taste.

Next add the elements that need to cook the longest. In my case that was a few handfuls each of pearl barley, yellow and green split peas. Lentils and beans work well too, adding fibre and protein. Cook until these are almost tender, about 30 mins.

Then add all of your veggies. I added onion, carrots, and celery first, and then about 5 minutes later added green beans and mushrooms.

Turn off the heat, and add the cut up chicken meat. I also added a strained and rinsed can of white kidney beans for another health kick.

Voila - you have a hearty meal that will easily serve a crowd.

To top off the soup, I made some Brazilian cheese puffs, or gluten-free cheese biscuits. My local bulk store, which I blogged about here, didn't have tapioca flour, but said I could use Arroroot flour (also gluten-free) instead. It seemed to work just fine! Here is the link to the original recipe, which I've pasted below as well.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
• 3/4 cup grated cheese of choice, such as cheddar, mozarella, gouda, cotija
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, such as high oleic sunflower oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 1-12 unit muffin pan. Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes until puffed up and light golden-brown.