Tag: gardening

I’m sure I could spend the rest of my life eating Grandma’s chicken and corn soup and be a completely satisfied man.  She always used dark meat chicken for more flavor, but it is equally delicious using chicken breast.  This main course soup is a budget stretcher which complements any shopping list.  Add some chopped escarole and you’ve created a health dynamo.  If escarole is not available at your grocery, curly endive, a cousin of escarole, will work just as well.

Escarole has no fat.  One and one-half cups of chopped escarole has only 15 calories, 1 gram of protein and 3 grams of carbohydrates.  It adds 5.2% to 8% of your recommended daily consumption of fiber which is a critical component of bowel health decreasing risk of constipation, diarrhea and diverticulitis.  We all know that adequate fiber will satisfy hunger with fewer calories, but to avoid bloating and gas work up slowly to an amount of 25 to 38 grams daily.

But wait, there’s more.  This one serving of 1 1/2 cups of escarole supplies 30% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C and 4% of your DRV of iron and calcium.  A shortage of iron may cause you to feel tired, dizzy and headachy.  We all know the importance of calcium, don’t we?  Yeah, strong teeth and bones.  healthfully.com

here are the ingredients

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 4 chicken legs and thighs or 2 breasts ( or a combination of dark and white meat, it’s up to you whether to use the skin in cooking, I believe it adds additional flavor, but also calories and fat)
• about 4 cups chopped escarole (Grandma never used greens other than fresh parsley and it was just as delicious)
• 3 ears fresh corn, kernels removed from cob or 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 3 hard boiled eggs sliced
• a sprig of fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 3 TBS chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

directions

1. heat the olive oil in a stew pot or Dutch oven
2. add the onions and garlic
3. cook until translucent being careful not to scorch the garlic
4. remove from the pot and reserve for later
5. add the chicken legs, thighs, breast
6. saute in the oil until lightly golden
7. add enough broth to cover the chicken pieces and bring to boil
8. immediately reduce the heat to a slow simmer, cover the pot
9. cook on low heat about 30-45 minutes adding more broth if needed
10. remove chicken from pot, set in bowl to cool
11. add the greens, herbs, corn, and rest of the broth
12. bring to a boil
13. reduce heat to simmer and cover the pot
14. cook about 15 minutes
15. while that is cooking, skin and debone the chicken pieces
16. tear meat into bite-sized pieces
17. add the chicken and reserved onions and garlic to the soup
18. add more broth or hot water if necessary to keep it soup
19. season with salt and pepper
20. ladle into bowls and top with the sliced hard-boiled eggs