White bean, chicken and vegetable soup
| Serves |
|---|
| 1-2 |
- 1 litre chicken stock
- 1 barbecue chicken, skinned, boned and
- cut into 3cm pieces
- 400g can of cannellini beans
- 375g packet frozen mixed vegetables
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 In a large pot, heat the chicken stock to very hot. Add the chicken, beans and frozen mixed vegetables, and season with salt and pepper and chopped parsley. Be careful not to over salt the soup as some stocks have a high sodium content.
2 Serve immediately-yes, it is that simple.
Original Kick Start Soup
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 3 tomatoes
- 1kg carrots
- 3 green capsicum
- 2 cups green beans
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 1 bunch celery, including leaves
- 2 cups GRAVOX Real Vegetable Stock
- 2 cups water
- 2 large cans crushed tomatoes
- Seasoning and spices, to taste
- Bunch parsley, to serve
1 Chop vegetables into small pieces and put into a big pot with stock, water and canned tomatoes.
2 Add seasoning and spices, boil for 2 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour or until vegies are tender. To make it thinner, add more water.
3 Top with chopped parsley to serve.
Tip: Substitute any low GI vegies, such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, asparagus, onion or leafy greens, for the ones used here. Freeze leftover soup (don't leave it out standing during the day).
Minestrone soup for kids
| Serves |
|---|
| Makes 7 cups |
- 1 tblsp olive oil
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 bacon rashers, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 medium potato, finely chopped
- 1 zucchini, finely chopped
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup mini pasta shapes
1 Heat oil in a large pan. Add leek, garlic and bacon and cook, stirring over a low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until leek is soft. Add celery, carrot and potato and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
2 Stir in chopped zucchini, tomatoes, vegetable stock and water. Bring to boil, then add mini pasta shapes. Boil, uncovered, for 12 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
3 Serve soup in bowls.
Hint: Soup can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep covered in refrigerator. It will thicken on standing, so add a little water when reheating. Soup can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup
| Serves |
|---|
| 4 |
- 400g packet fresh thick rice noodles
- 1/4 cup instant Tom Yum soup paste
- 2cm-piece fresh ginger, cut into thin sticks
- 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 cups boiling water
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups shredded roast chicken
- 1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
- 1 tblsp fish sauce
- 100g baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves
- 1 tblsp lime juice
- Bean sprouts, to garnish
- Extra fresh coriander, to garnish
1 Place noodles in a medium heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand noodles for 2 minutes and then drain.
2 Meanwhile, heat a medium saucepan. Add paste, ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add water, stock, chicken, capsicum and spring onions. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through.
3 Stir in fish sauce, spinach, coriander, lime juice and noodles. Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes until heated through.
4 Serve soup topped with bean sprouts and extra fresh coriander.
Hint: Substitute shredded roast turkey or matchstick-sized pieces of ham for the chicken.
Bean and leek soup
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 2 large leeks
- 1 tblsp unsalted butter
- 1 tblsp oil, shaken with
- 5 tblsps water
- 2 large heads broccoli, broken into florets
- 2 3/4 cups GRAVOX Real Beef or Chicken Stock
- Ground white pepper, to taste
- 1 cup fresh, frozen or canned borlotti beans or romano beans or broad beans, rinsed
- Chopped basil or parsley, to serve
1 Discard roots and most of the green from leeks. Split lengthwise, and then wash, chop and allow to dry.
2 Heat butter and oil mixture in a large saucepan. Add leeks and saute until softened, but not browned, saving a few spoonfuls of cooked leeks to garnish.
3 Add broccoli and stir-fry until bright green. Add stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and season. Simmer for 30 minutes, adding more water as required.
4 Meanwhile, if using fresh beans, cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and transfer to bowl of cold water. Discard skin. Reserve spoonfuls of beans to serve.
5 Strain vegie and stock mixture into a bowl, reserving liquid. Blend cooked vegies and beans. Add 2 ladles of reserved liquid and puree until smooth. Add remaining liquid and blend, adding a little extra stock if soup is too thick. Reheat soup and serve topped with reserved leeks and beans, and chopped herbs.
Mexican spicy chicken soup
| Serves |
|---|
| Makes 3.5 litres |
- 800g chicken thigh cutlets, skin left on
- 2 tsps smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tblsp salt
- 10 cups (2.5 litres) water
- 1 tblsp finely chopped jalapeno chillies
- 3 cloves garlic, halved
- 1 large potato, grated
- 1 large brown onion, grated
- 420g can four bean mix, drained
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 4 sticks celery, chopped
- 310g can corn kernels, drained
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup finely chopped coriander
- 1 cup bottled char-grilled capsicum strips, to garnish
- Corn chips, to serve
1 Heat a large non-stick pan, add chicken cutlets. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Add paprika, cumin and salt, stir to coat chicken. Pour the water in. chillies, garlic, potato and onion and bring to boil. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2 Add beans, tomatoes, celery and corn and cook for a further 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and remove chicken cutlets from liquid. Discard skin and bones. Shred chicken meat into small strips and return to pan. Season�with salt and pepper and stir in coriander.
3 Garnish with capsicum strips. Serve with corn chips.
Tip: Mexican chicken soup can be made up to five days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To freeze, simply pour the soup into a freezer container and seal. It can be kept frozen for up to two months. Thaw soup in refrigerator before reheating, then garnish and serve.