chicken vegetable soup (aka: clean out the fridge soup)

My family loves soup.  In addition to our "What's new Wednesday" - the day we try out a brand new recipe, "Fish Taco Friday" - the day we have fish tacos (recipe here!), we also have "Soup Saturday".

Yeah we really like alliterations.  And food.

If you haven't figure it out yet, "Soup Saturday" is the day we have soup. It is also bun day, (hmmm do we need an alliteration for that? Wheat Weekend?)  so we often have soup to complement my mother's delicious home made buns.  

We made this recipe when my parents were vacationing in Arizona (with our Grandparents, no fair!), so we didn't have any fresh homemade buns to enjoy.  So, on her way home from work, Kelsey stopped by a local farmer's market and picked up a fresh baked baguette!  It was delicious, and we even added some cheese and broiled it to make some cheesy bread.  It was the best.

Chicken Vegetable Soup
by: Jordyn Siemens

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1 sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic
4 carrots
4 celery stalks
3 red potatoes
1/2 zucchini
1/2 large yam
1 can of black beans
1 cup of corn
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
6 cups chicken broth (more or less)
2 chicken breasts (chopped and sauteed)

Directions:
1) Chop everything into bite size pieces (finely chop your garlic)
2) In a large pot on medium heat, heat one tablespoon of oil.  Add onions and saute until translucent, then add garlic and stir to incorporate.
3) Add chopped carrots, celery, potatoes, and zucchini and saute until they start to get soft, then add the chopped yam.
4) Once everything is tender, add black beans and corn.
5) Stir in spices, and add chicken broth.  Bring soup to a boil, and let simmer to fully cook the vegetables.
6) While soup is simmering, heat one tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan, and saute the chopped chicken breast until cooked all the way through.
7) Once the vegetables are fully cooked, add the cooked chicken.
8) Serve!

This soup recipe is super easy, and you can add/subtract any of the ingredients quite easily.  Add any random veggies you have in your fridge - broccoli, cauliflower, chopped brussels sprouts, or add chickpeas instead of black beans. Whatever suits your fancy!

p.s. ♥ jordyn & kelsey