MADDIE DAY here, with an easy, yummy, and flexible soup recipe.
Hugh and I were eating lunch at one of our favorite restaurants recently, and I noticed the soup of the day featured roasted chicken with white beans and couscous. A little light bulb went off in my head. We had roasted a chicken a couple of days before, and I'd made a flavorful stock out of the bones. We had leftover cooked couscous in the fridge, too.
March tends to be raw in New England, and has been especially so this year. A hot easy soup on a Friday night was just the ticket. I picked up a can of of cannellini and began recreating the Loretta's special.
Note: we use an herb rub for the roasted chicken, so my stock was flavorful and had plenty of salt. If yours isn't, be sure to add salt and pepper and any other herbs you enjoy.
Roast Chicken Soup
Ingredients
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil (not shown)
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked couscous or 1 cup uncooked
2 cups shredded roasted chicken
10 ounces frozen or fresh chopped spinach
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Heat oil in soup pot or Dutch oven. Saute garlic for one minute.
Add stock and bring to a boil. Add other ingredients and simmer half an hour or until all are combined and cooked.
Enjoy with a green salad and a glass of wine!
Yes, it is that easy. You could substitute kale or any other green for the spinach; throw in chopped carrots at the beginning or frozen peas toward the end; use pearl couscous instead of the tiny grains, or orzo or another pasta; add a dollop of pesto or a handful of fresh herbs; grate fresh Parmesan on top before serving.
I find myself with an extra limited-edition tote bag celebrating my latest historical mystery, A Case for the Ladies, and I'd like to send it to one of you!
Readers: What's your favorite soup?
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We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.
Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.
