I've been feeling blah lately, just down on energy and not my 100%. So I turned to what worked when I was 3, re-invented it a bit and guess what? It works just as well when you're in your 30's. Go figure. Life is so tricky like that.
This soup is so easy, just takes a bit of time. But it's all worth it. Make it on a Sunday night and have lunch figured out for the rest of the week. Plus it makes you feel all happy inside. And somehow dinner table conversations become a little bit longer with a bowl of soup. Trust me.
Couple notes: You can make this soup vegetarian, just ixnay the chicken. Also feel free to add some orzo or rice and any other delicious veggies you have on hand. And don't forget the extra lemons to squeeze on top.
Re-invented Avglemono Soup
Broth
2 onions, cut in half (leave skin on)
5 carrtos, chopped in half (no need to peel)
5 celery stalks, chopped in half
2-3 parsnips, choped in half
6 sprigs of sage
1 Tbsp peppercorns (less if you want less pepper taste)
1 Tbsp salt
Soupa (that's soup in Greek folks, also my second word)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled cut into bite size pices
5 celery stalks, cut into bite size pieces
1 3/4 pound of chicken thighs
6 sprigs of sage
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3 lemons
1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped
In a large stockpot (I'm talking the big one that you never use) place all the ingredients for the broth and cover with cold water - leave a little room at the top so it can boil. Bring the pot to a boil, uncovered, and then reduce to a simmer. (Note: It can take an hour or so to get the water to boil because remember you're using your BIG pot) Let the broth simmer for an hour and up to 3 hours.
With a slotted spoon remove all the cooked veggies and place them in a bowl. Feel free to nibble on these while you're cooking. Also, once cooled, dogs love the yummy cooked carrots.
Now strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve (I don't even know why I used sieve, I meant strainer) so you can remove the peppercorns and any herbs. You can also skip this step and simply fish them out with a spoon.
Either in another stockpot or in the same one with the vegetable broth removed, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add in some salt and pepper, sage, your gorgeous broth and the chicken thighs. This is where we cook the chicken in homemade stock - genious.
You want to cook the chicken until it falls off the bone, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and shred it up and add it back into the pot. Turn the heat to low - as low as it can go.
In a medium bowl take your eggs and whisk them - like really good. Then with one hand whisking you want to slowly add 3 ladle fulls of the soup. This is to make sure you don't wind up with scrambled eggs - and if you do, don't panic, just order pizza (trust me, I've done it.).
Then you want to add the egg and broth mixture into the soup and stir away. Add in your kale and the juice of 3 lemons and ta-da!!!!
THE perfect feel better soup.
