Harvest Soup
Harvest soup is a classic chicken soup, loaded with seasonal veggies like potatoes, kale & carrots. This soup will satisfy your belly & soul.
Servings: 0
Ingredients
- 1 3.5 lb whole chicken
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized rounds
- 1 leek, white parts only, sliced
- 1 onion, quartered and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled, quartered and cut into 1/2-in [1.2-cm] pieces
- 1 ½ cups chopped kale
- herb bouquet (see below)
- Kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 cup Sauvignon Blanc
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Herb Bouquet
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 sage leaves
- tie herbs in kitchen twine or wrap in cheese cloth and tie
Instructions
- In a 8-quart (8 liter) stock pot, add the whole chicken, carrots, leeks, onion, garlic, potatoes, kale, the herb bouquet, about 2 tablespoons of salt, and a few good turns of fresh black pepper. Generously cover the contents with cold water, leaving only about 1.5-inches (3.8-cm) of room from the top of the pot. Add the wine. Add more water during the cooking process, only if needed, to keep the contents well covered.
- Bring the contents to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 2-3 hours, periodically skimming any fat, residue and foam that rises to the surface.
- When soup is done, remove the bouquet and discard. Carefully remove the chicken from the pot as the chicken will likely begin to fall apart, taking care to not leave behind any bones. Set the chicken aside to cool a bit, 10 minutes.
- Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and lightly shred the meat using two forks, keep aside.
- Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if necessary
- See notes below. If adding the chicken back to the pot, start by adding only half of the shredded chicken to the soup, give the soup a gentle stir. Use your judgment at this point, if the chicken was small and didn’t generate a lot of meat, you might be able to add all of the shredded chicken back to the pot. Otherwise, keep half aside for meals during the week. To serve, divide soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with desired amount of Parmesan cheese
Notes
You can opt to keep ALL of the shredded chicken aside and only add the chicken to each serving bowl as desired. This is helpful in homes (like mine) where some people (usually a child) refuses to eat the shredded chicken in the soup at all. Any leftover chicken can be used during the week in chicken salad, on a sandwich, in pasta, etc.
Other options to consider:
Instead of kale use spinach, cabbage or escarole.
Swap out the potatoes for butternut squash or a small pasta. If opting for pasta, consider making it separately and keeping it aside drizzled very lightly in olive oil to prevent sticking. Adding pasta to the hot soup will cause it to swell and overcook, becoming mushy and soft – especially if there’s leftover soup and it’s left to sit in the broth overnight. Cooking and keeping it separate, for this particular soup, is recommended.