Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Stupefyingly Simple Chicken, Rice, and Butternut Squash Soup

Stupefyingly Simple Chicken, Rice, and Butternut Squash Soup

Stupefyingly Simple Chicken, Rice, and Butternut Squash Soup

One taste of this soup, and you too will be stupefied.  And your body slammed with enough beta carotene to . . . . well to do something astounding.  Maybe even run or something crazy.

For me, making soup is not a quick or easy thing.  I think it's a Production.  I have my Soup Packs.  There's lots of chopping involved.  I plan to spend hours over my pretty purple pot.  And I generally end up with something good that my family eats happily the first time but the soup leftovers don't usually get fought over like other things.

The day I made this, I had 2 kids home sick with colds, and I was busy with baking.  I didn't have time to devote to soup, but I thought the kids would benefit from a warm bowl for lunch.  The oven was on anyway, so I selected a small butternut squash from the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve in the corner of the breakfast nook, split it, scooped out the guts, and roasted it upside down on a rimmed baking sheet with a cup of water for 45 minutes until it was tender.  That part was easy.  I kept going.

Since I wasn't Making A Production out of the soup, I grabbed a large saucepan, preheated oil in it over medium heat, and dropped in about half a cup of carrots and celery from a freezer bag of pre-chopped veggies.  After they had started to soften I tossed in some Onion Onion and minced garlic.  I also tossed in 4 bullion cubes because I didn't have any soup stock on hand.  After my electric kettle had come to a boil I added about 4-5 cups of water to the pan.  Then a can of chicken, half of a squash, and let it simmer gently until lunchtime (give it at least 30 minutes, could go up to 2 hrs).  When it was time to serve, I scooped out the remaining rice from the rice cooker (last night's dinner leftovers), added it to the pot, and dished up bowls of warm soup.

Stupefyingly easy and surprisingly tasty, especially given the utter lack of effort on my part.

Stupefyingly Simple Chicken, Rice, and Butternut Squash Soup

Stupefyingly Simple Chicken, Rice, and Butternut Squash Soup

Stupefyingly Simple Chicken, Rice, and Butternut Squash Soup

1/2 cup chopped carrot-celery mix
1 Tablespoon Onion Onion or other dried onion mix
1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1 quart chicken stock (or 4 chicken bullion cubes plus 1 quart warm water)
1 can (10 oz) chicken breast meat, or 1 and ½ cups cooked chicken breast
1/2 small butternut squash, roasted (about 1 and ¼ cups)
2 cups cooked rice

Preheat a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add a teaspoon of oil.  Sauté the carrot and onion for 5-8 minutes until softened.  Add onion and garlic, stir for 3-5 more minutes.  Add chicken stock.  Bring to a gentle simmer, add chicken and squash.  Stir.  Simmer for 30+ minutes.  A few minutes before serving, add rice to pot and heat through.

This post is shared on What's Cookin' Wednesday, What's In The Box,  From the Farm Blog Hop, the Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Tasty Tuesdays

I've revamped my Visual Recipe Index! For more ideas on what to do with your butternut squash, click here.

12 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea. Boom! This is what I am making this weekend. And, bonus, something 'new' before the onslaught of winter squash takes over and my family has developed the butternut blues. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sharlea,
      No! Not the Butternut Blues (I feel a song coming on . . .). I admit I'm not in a giant rush to have at the Strategic Winter Squash reserve, partially because it will be fine in a few weeks and the tomatoes and beet greens and peppers will not, but also because I had such fine last winter with the squash that I don't know how to top it this winter.
      I wish you well with your soup!

      Delete
  2. Very nice! I too tend to make soup into a production. I think I have built it up way too much in my mind. I need some stupefyingly simple soup!
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah,
      Everyone needs an easy soup in their life!

      Delete
  3. Hey Kirsten- Do you like your rice cooker? My 20 year-old Panasonic 4 cup rice steamer finally kicked the bucket and I'm in the market for a new one. Been looking at Sanyo models...do you like your Zojirushi? The soup looks so satisfying, by the way

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucy,
      I do like my rice cooker. We got it . . . .I'm thinking at least 9 yrs ago (trying to remember if we had it in Hawaii or didn't get it until after the move). I broke the little plastic thing that catches condensation at the back (fell into the disposal), but a wadded towel works just fine as the drip only falls when the lid is opened. I only use the cook and keep warm functions, and have never used it for porridge, just sticky/short grain/basmati/jasmine/black/sushi/brown rices.
      Thanks!

      Delete
  4. I like anything Stupefyingly Simple. That's my kind of marketing right there.
    Soups are almost always a production over here and usually stay on the stove overnight "to cool." That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
    I love the idea of this soup so I will be giving it a try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meghan,
      And you wonder where Max gets his incentive to look for food . . .
      I'm working on non-production vegan/vegetarian/omnivore soups as well

      Delete
  5. Stopping by from Tasty Tuesday - your soup looks like the perfect meal on one of our cool fall nights. Have pinned!

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  6. Replies
    1. Tammy,
      Thanks! And did I mention how easy it is ;) ?

      Delete