Chicken Noodle Soup with Matzo Balls

A delicious homemade soup is always welcome on a cold night.  My kids often request  chicken noodle soup.   I use matzo balls too with lots of noodles and chicken to make this a very hearty meal.  My younger kids haven't been daring enough yet to try the matzo balls,  but my older daughter and my husband and I enjoy them very much.  I use the packaged Matzo Ball and Soup mix and the soup package of vegetables in my supermarkets produce section for a little bit of a shortcut.  The flavors of the kosher soup mix, mixed with the homemade stock is perfect.  Make a big enough pot for to enjoy leftovers the next day.

Recipe

2 large chicken breasts, bone in

1  vegetable soup package - with onion, carrots, parsnip, turnip, leek, celery, parsley, dill - peeled, rinsed, cut vegetables in half,  herbs put in whole.

1 clove garlic, crushed

1  matzo ball and soup mix

salt and pepper

2-4 carrots, 1/4 inch diced (your preference how many carrots and what size to cut) reserve for later

1 12-16oz box/bag soup noodles, pictured in this bowl I used alphabets, but I like to use orzo, stelline, and pastina too

Water

1 Chicken bouillon cube if needed

Instructions

Fill a  large soup/stock pot about 3/4 full with water.  Rinse chicken and place in pot with all of vegetables and herbs from soup package, garlic, 2 Tbsps salt, and 1 tsp pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for approx. 2 1/2 hours.  During this cooking time, stir periodically, stock will evaporate so add more to keep your pot about 3/4 filled.  While the stock is cooking, prepare matzo balls according to package directions.  When the stock is ready remove chicken pieces and let cool before removing meat, remove vegetables and herbs with a slotted spoon.  When chicken is cool enough, remove the meat and cut or break into desired size pieces and return to the pot.  Add the diced carrots.  Add the soup seasoning packet from mix.  Bring to a boil and stir.  Taste the soup and season with more salt and pepper as needed.  Also add more water if needed- to maintain a 3/4 full pot, and bring back to a boil.  Add the matzoh balls and cover, cooking for 10 minutes.  Then add the noodles, do a taste test - if needs more flavoring add 1 chicken bouillon cube and/or some salt and pepper to taste, cover cooking an additional 10 minutes.  Remove cover, stir, turn off heat and serve.

Main ingredients

Starting the stock

Enjoy!



Shortcut Creamy Potato and Cheddar Soup with Asparagus Croutons

It's starting to get cold here on Long Island on these October Fall nights.   My throats a little scratchy with this change of weather and I'm just chilly all over, soup would surely hit the spot!  When food shopping the other day I was down the soup aisle replenishing my son's Ramen soup supply, (he's going through a picky phase) when I saw some soup mixes like this one:

So I bought it on a whim, thinking I'll doctor it up a bit to make it taste even more homemade then it claims on the package.  Well it tasted pretty darn good and the mix made it easy!  The addition of chunks of potatoes and carrots and garnishments give it depth and homemade flavor and make it a hearty and delicious meal.  This warmed me right up, and my throat was happy :) Here's what I did:

Peel and dice 1 large potato
Peel and dice 2 carrots
Chop 2 scallions for garnishing
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional- shredded cheddar cheese for garnishing

Optional - Roasted Asparagus for croutons.

Add 8 cups of water to large pot.  Add potato and carrots, bring to a boil and boil for 15 mins. In the meantime prepare the asparagus:  Use 1/2 bunch of asparagus.  Snap off the hard ends and place standing up in a small pot of boiling water, cook for 5 minutes.  Then transfer to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Drizzle with a mixture of melted butter and olive oil, and sprinkle on to taste: garlic powder, seasoned bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.  Roast for about 10 minutes on 425 degrees until golden and lightly crispy.  Let cool and slice into 1 inch pieces, set aside

After cooking the potato and carrots, add the entire contents of soup packet.  Whisk to mix, bring back to boiling, and then lower to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.   Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste.   Serve soup and garnish with scallions, asparagus pieces and shredded cheddar.

Enjoy!