“There’s nothing quite like a warming bowl of homemade soup to make you feel a thousand times better,” says food writer Melissa Hemsley. “If I’ve had a Sunday roast chicken, I make this on a Monday to get a great boost of vegetables in.
“It’s based on store cupboard and freezer ingredients like frozen peas, onion, garlic and carrots, though you could swap in anything that needs using up. You can up the amount of vegetables or noodles here, so adjust to your liking. Post-Christmas and other celebrations, this is a fantastic way to use up leftover turkey or any other leftover meats.”
Chicken and vegetable noodle soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ghee or butter
- 1 large leek or onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1.2 litres vegetable stock or bone broth
- 1 big handful of a mix of fresh herbs, like parsley and dill leaves and stems chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1tsp dried
- 1 bay leaf dried or fresh
- 2 celery sticks diced
- 2 carrots thinly sliced
- 2 handfuls of 2cm chunks of root veg like sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, potato or (in the summer) courgette
- 400 g noodles or spaghetti, any type
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 300 g mix of cabbage, rainbow chard and/or chard stems finely chopped and leaves shredded
- 300 g leftover shredded chicken
- Juice of 1/4 lemon or 1tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 big handfuls of frozen peas or sweetcorn
- Sea salt and black pepper
Method
- In a large wide saucepan, heat the ghee or butter and fry the leek or onion over a medium heat for eight minutes while you prep everything else. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
- Add the stock or broth, chopped parsley or dill stems, thyme, bay leaf, celery, carrot, root veg and some salt and pepper, pop the lid on and cook for 15 minutes until the carrot is almost tender.
- Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a separate pan until almost tender (check the label for suggested timings), then drain and rinse under cold water to stop them cooking further. Toss with the olive oil to stop them clumping and set aside.
- Back to your soup pan: add the chopped cabbage and chard stems, shredded chicken, lemon juice or vinegar and cook for a few more minutes.
- Add the chard leaves, frozen peas or sweetcorn and cooked noodles for a final two minutes so that the chard wilts, the peas cook and the noodles heat through. Season to taste and serve up straight away, topped with the fresh herb leaves.
Nutrition
Eat Green by Melissa Hemsley, photography by Philippa Langley, is published by Ebury Press, priced £22. Available now.
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