Well hello, November! Our Monday here in the City is gray and calling out for soup and something for dipping and soaking up the broth. Throughout Fall, Winter, and early Spring, our chicken soup graces the table weekly. The vegetable ingredients change depending on what is available, but one thing remains the same: our beer broth, full of B vitamins and imparting a lovely wheaty flavor to the soup.
You can-we do!-absolutely make this as a vegetable soup, but I thought that a little meat and veg action might be in order after all the treat-ing that went down on and leading up to Friday. Also, we will all need to feel fortified to go out tomorrow and VOTE.
This here is a lazy kind of soup, so I hope that I’m not offending anybody’s sensabilities when I tell you that we don’t make the stock separately. The Big Person will do all of the work on the soup, but the Yummies make it up with lots of responsibility for making the pita crackers: bi-partisan cooking at its finest.
Chicken Veggie Soup in a Beer Broth with Quick Pita Crackers
For the soup:
*2 T. olive oil or butter
*2 medium onions, chopped
*4 medium carrots, chopped
*3 medium cloves of garlic, minced
*a sweet potato or several small potatoes, washed well and chopped
*seasonally: tomatoes, squash, peas, snap peas, green beans, corn, parsnips, etc.
*2 bottles of local beer (We used Brooklyn Weisse here)
*2 skin-on, bone-in whole organic chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
*1 c. quinoa, rinsed for a minute in a fine mesh sieve
*Salt and pepper to taste
*1 T. poultry seasoning
For the Pita crackers:
*4 large whole-grain pitas
*3 T. olive oil
*1 t. salt
*1 t. black pepper
*1 T. flax seeds
*1 T. black or white sesame seeds
Big Person: Warm the olive oil or butter over medium-low heat in a big stock pot or French oven. Add the onions, carrots, and parsnips if available. Cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat till soft, about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and cook another couple of minutes, stirring.
Now, add the beer, the chicken, the quinoa, enough water to cover everything plus more, some salt and the poultry seasoning. Bring the soup to a boil and keep it at a boil for 5 minutes. Lower the heat, cover, and cook till ready to serve, ideally at least 3 hours and up to 8. If you would like to make a quicker version, boil the soup for longer to speed things up.
Meanwhile, cut the pitas into 8-12 wedges with a serrated knife. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment or silpat mats. Get out a large bowl, wet a kitchen towel, and grab your mini-chef to make the crackers. Have your mini-chef combine the olive oil, salt, and pepper in the bowl. Throw in the pita wedges to coat them with the oil, using little hands. Wipe hands with the wet kitchen towel. Have your Yummy arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the flaxseeds and the sesame seeds.
Big Person: Put the pitas into the oven and bake till warm and brown, about 15 minutes.
Shortly before serving, skim the fat and goo off the top of the soup. Take the chicken breasts out of the pot and place them in a large bowl to cool for 5 minutes. When they have cooled, shred the chicken with a couple of forks, discard the bones and skin, and return the shredded chicken to the pot. Turn the heat up to medium and bring the soup to a simmer. Season with salt, pepper, and more poultry seasoning. Serve with the crackers on the side or afloat.
