Quick & Easy Chicken & Quinoa Soup

12/29/2015

Quick & Easy Chicken & Quinoa Soup

Happy holidays friends! It's definitely feeling like the holiday season, especially with this freeeezing (AKA 55°) weather in LA. All I want to do lately is cuddle up with a cozy blanket, turn on the fireplace, and eat a comforting bowl of soup. I've also had a bit of a cold, and I don't know about you, but all I ever want when I'm sick is chicken noodle soup. I turn into my 12 year old self, wanting to skip school, watch TV, hang out with my mom, and eat soup all day. I've actually never even tried to make homemade chicken noodle soup because I always assumed that the only way to make it super delicious is by spending hours making chicken stock from scratch, roasting a whole chicken, etc, etc, and who has the time for that (not me!)?? I'm happy to report that you only need about 30 minutes to make this delicious, satisfying, and comforting soup.  Also, I decided to swap traditional noodles for quinoa to make this soup extra healthy. Mitch and I couldn't get enough - it's so so good, and I think it's curing my cold as we speak! To all of you winter wimps like me, go make this soup and I promise it will make you feel amazing!

 Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 celery ribs, roughly chopped (I prefer bigger pieces)​
1 cup baby carrots (or 3 large carrots, chopped)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked then shredded
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus some for garnish
1/2 tbsp dill
1 squeeze of lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste (be generous with the salt!)

Serves 4.

1. Start with the chicken - if you want to save time, you can pick up a rotisserie chicken and shred it into
bite-sized pieces. I just boiled water (added some salt) and let the chicken cook in the boiling water for
12ish minutes, then shredded it with two forks.
2. While the chicken is cooking, place a large pot over moderate heat and add olive oil. Add the onion, celery,
carrots, and garlic and sauté until fragant - about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add chicken broth and bay leaves and bring to a boil. 
4. Add shredded chicken and cooked quinoa. Stir well. Reduce to moderate heat.
5. Stir in parsley and dill, and remove bay leaves. Season again with salt & pepper to taste.
6. Serve with an extra garnish of chopped parsley.
7. ​Enjoy!!!

Remember those books Chicken Soup for the Soul? Weren't those the best?! Do people still read those? I hope so. Those sappy heart-warming stories were the best! I love them almost as much as I love this soup.

​Enjoy and stay healthy this holiday season!!