Homemade Chicken Soup

I can't imagine anything better on a cold Winter's day or when I am sick than homemade chicken soup. Since becoming gluten free, I rarely have the luxury of opening a can of soup or picking some up pre-made. I used to love Chik-fil-a's chicken noodle soup. No more noodles for me! Now I usually make my own. 

What you will need:
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Garlic
One Quart of homemade chicken stock
Cooked chicken meat
Your favorite soup addition.... mine is rice!

I always begin with chopped up onion, celery and carrots. This combination is called mirepoix. I usually use:
 one whole onion-red, yellow or white
two stalks of celery
one handful of baby carrots or two full size carrots

This combination can usually be found in the produce section at the grocery store already chopped or in the freezer section. After a recent cold when I didn't feel like chopping vegetables, I think that I will always have some frozen on hand. This is a great beginning to many dishes. You can also include parsnips and parsley if you like. And if you can't decide what to make for dinner this is a great start..... throw it in the pan- the house starts to smell wonderful and you can make so many things with this as the beginning!

Place the chopped mirepoix into a large pot. Add some minced garlic, approximately 2 cloves. Cook until soft. Add one quart of homemade chicken stock. Homemade makes all of the difference here.This is usually still frozen when I add it. Once it is thawed I add the chicken meat. It can be leftover rotisserie or roasted chicken that is fresh or frozen. Chop it up and toss it in.

Heat through and add some cooked rice. I would say 2-3 cups of rice. At this point you could also add noodles instead of rice. I don't think that gluten free noodles would hold up in soup though. I like to change it up by using brown rice, white rice, or wild rice. Each gives the soup a different flavor. So far, wild rice tastes the most hearty, white rice the most simple. Let the soup simmer for a few minutes. Ladle into bowls and enjoy! I hope you enjoy this easy, delicious homemade soup.

Dave loves this soup and so do I. I get sad when there is only one bowl left. Time to make some more!