Gluten-free Chicken Vegetable Soup

A warming winter soup, perfect for a thermos on a cold day

Hi there! It’s autumn Down Under at the moment, although we’re still experiencing summer weather. It was really something for the family to go body surfing at the beach over Easter. The warm weather has been great, but it’s also been very dry here, which unfortunately brought my fig season to an abrupt end. Normally, my fig tree produces 30 to 40 kilograms of fruit. This year, I think we may have been lucky to have around 15 kilos.

So we’re all looking forward to some proper autumn weather. Crisp and cool, with gorgeous changes in tree leaves. It will happen eventually!

Soup recipe for winter

In the hope that the cooler weather will be with us soon, here is a soup recipe which is one of my family’s favourites. I tend to cook this when I’ve got chicken breast on hand, but am all out of ideas. The great thing about soup is that the ingredients are fairly approximate, so you can really just throw in whatever you have on hand.

Gluten-free noodles

For the noodles, I used Orgran’s Gluten-free Rice and Corn Spaghetti Noodles. The Orgran website says that they’ve been discontinued, which is a shame because they’re brilliant in this soup. So if you find them, do yourself a favour and stock up. And if you can’t find them, use gluten-free spaghetti. Just break up the uncooked spaghetti into small pieces and throw them in the pot to cook. The starch that they release when cooking makes a beautiful thick base for the soup.

This makes a big pot of soup so there’s plenty for a second meal and for school lunches. Send heated soup in a thermos for a filling and warming lunch. And if you’d like to try an Asian-style Chicken Noodle Soup, click through on the link.

Enjoy!

Gluten-free Chicken Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breast fillets

2 tbs olive oil

1 brown onion, peeled and diced

3 large carrots, peeled, trimmed and diced

2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced

Kernels from 1 cob of corn

1. 5 L gluten-free liquid vegetable stock

2 generous handfuls of noodles, cooked

Salt to taste

Chopped spring onion and black pepper, to serve (optional)

Method

Over high heat, boil a medium-sized pot of water. Add the chicken breasts (ensuring that they are covered by the water) and bring back to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and allow chicken to poach for approximately 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a large stockpot, heat oil over high heat. Add onions and cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and celery stalks and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the corn kernels and cook for a further minute, stirring occasionally.

Add the stock to the pot and bring to the boil. Then reduce heat to medium-high.

In the meantime, remove the chicken from the water and drain. Using two forks, shred the chicken and then add to the soup. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add the noodles and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes, or until cooked through. If soup is too thick, use a little water to thin to desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

Serve immediately, with sliced spring onion and black pepper.

Serves 10 to 12.