So...that didn't work
I was going to write a whole blog about my failed attempt at brown rice risotto (which, looking back, I knew better than to try) but I have had so many successes in the kitchen (yay! go me: ) that it seems silly to waste a whole blog post on something I won't be trying again. Let us just say that arborrio rice is the only rice to use for a proper risotto. And even if you don't want a "proper" risotto, brown rice is really not an option. It takes too long to cook and the bran and germ surrounding the endosperm prevent enough starch from escaping to create the creamy texture that is the whole point of a risotto. Lesson learned. Moving on to more delicious things.
So...this did work!
Well, lately it's been pretty cold here in Kansas (although as a write this, its a nice 60 degrees outside). That means lots of soups. Specifically lots of soups involving lots of vegetables and chicken or beans (or both). After the success of the Chicken and Navy Bean soup, I decided I wanted to make another chicken and veggie soup. Wayne and I were both ready for more delicious, healthy, soupy goodness. I went back to my soups and stews book and found a tomato basil vegetable soup recipe that looked great. Adding chicken to it just seemed like a good idea. I really didn't alter the original recipe that much other than to cook it in a slow cooker instead of on the stove and to add chicken, of course. Also, because the cookbook is pretty old (Wayne's mom had it for a while before she gave it to us: ) it called for spices that aren't easily bought at the grocery store. Mace and "savory" were seasonings I did not have. After a quick google search or two I picked ginger to replace the mace and poultry seasoning to replace the savory. Normally I wouldn't put a recipe that isn't really my own on my blog, but I plan to try this again with alterations that will be discussed after the recipe so I figured I should post the first attempt: )
Tomato Basil Chicken Soup
Ingredients
3-4 celery stalks, diced
4 medium carrots, sliced
1 large yellow onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 Tbsp oil (I used
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large cans diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp oil (I used coconut oil)
Seasonings to taste (I used the following spices and ratios)
-1 part poultry seasoning
-1 part ginger
-2 parts oregano
-2 parts thyme
-3 parts basil
-no idea how much salt and pepper I used but it wasn't a lot of either
Directions
Place celery, carrots, onion and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Rub chicken with half of total spice blend and place on top of vegetables. Pour tomatoes on top of chicken and top with other half of spice blend. Cook on high heat for one hour, stir (as much as possible, it's kind of hard) and cook for an additional 1-1.5 hours or until chicken is 165 degrees. Remove chicken breasts and use a fork and steak knife (or two forks) to shred chicken. Return to slow cooker and serve: )
Notes on the Experiment
The end result of this small experiment was pretty amazing, however I feel there was room for improvement. The entire time the soup was cooking I kept thinking about chicken parmesan. It smelled just like chicken parm baking in the oven! If I had any Parmesan cheese in the house at the time, I definitely would have added it. I didn't though so I had to settle for dreaming up ways to turn this soup into Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Soup. Because yeah, that sounds ridiculously awesome. So far I have two different ideas. Adding Parmesan cheese and noodles to the soup was my first idea and that would be easy enough. Probably delicious too. But my way better idea was trying to figure out some kind of french onion soup inspired presentation. That would take it up at least 2 notches on the epic soup scale, maybe 3. Maybe add Parmesan cheese to the soup and ladle individual portions into a ramekin (or other oven-safe bowl) then top with garlic toast, a blend of Italian cheese and bake until the cheese reaches epic bubbly, melty awesomeness. Hmmm....science demands I test this idea out: )
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