As in I’m no……. I have to say I felt every one of my 61 years this winter. The seemingly endless short, cold days are adding up. I know I speak for many of us, when I say – I am good and ready for spring!
The first signs of spring are happening here in KilKenney Kitchen. The garlic I planted last fall (albeit a tad late) has started to peek out of the ground. As a novice gardener, I celebrate each and every accomplishment with fervor as I know there will be plenty of failures along the way too. I have a big box of vegetable seeds and a few cool crop seedlings ready to go and I look forward to chronicling the ups and downs of my tiny Kitchen Garden on Instagram – feel free to follow along. I welcome your gardening wisdom and advice as well.
I’ve have also been cooking up some serious spring dishes over the last couple of weeks. Getting in the kitchen always makes me feel good and I’m excited to share this fabulous Spring Chicken Soup recipe with you today. Light, healthy, easy and decidedly delicious – this soup is perfect for this pseudo spring weather (it’s a lovely 32 degrees as I write this). I used fresh vegetables and a home roasted local chicken, but you can certainly use frozen vegetables and a rotisserie chicken for an equally super soup.
I believe your whole family will enjoy this beautiful bowl of spring soup. I invite you to give it a whirl this week and let me know how you like it!
Spring Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 medium cooked chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large Leek or onion
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried Herbs de Provence or Italian blend
- 1 large zucchini cut into 1" pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 pound fresh green beans or 1 cup frozen
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
- 1 small lemon
Instructions
- Cut the cooked chicken breast into chunks
- Grab your dried herbs – I love these Herbs de Provence, but Italian herbs work well too.
- Cut and wash the leek thoroughly
- Cut the zucchini into 1/2" chunks
- Cut the green beans into 2" pieces
- Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven, add the leeks and carrots and sauté until soft 4-5 minutes
- Add the garlic and herbs and sauté for 30 seconds
- Add the broth, zucchini, peas and bring to a boil
- Add the chopped chicken, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender but not mushy
- While the soup is cooking, zest the lemon
- Turn off the heat and add the zest of the lemon and it's juice
- Serve to all your favorite people – Yum, Yum!