chicken soup

sorry i haven't posted in ages i'm so sorry you look beautiful/handsome today and i love that color on you it's such a great color.

no, i'm not dead. i just started a new job last week that has involved six and eight hour shifts during the week and very little time to squeeze in for cooking that isn't frozen. on the plus side, i've rejuvenated my love affair

with stouffer's frozen mac and cheese. on the negative, i miss cooking a lot and miss food that is hot. with this new job has come the harsh and cruel arrival of cold weather. somewhere around the middle of my seven hour shift in forty degree weather on monday night, i felt the call of soup. like, right that second. alas, work.

this is that soup and you know what? it takes forty minutes tops including prep and cooking which isn't too shabby for weeknight soup. i don't have to tell you how good hot soup is when it's cold out and you can't feel your fingers - you surely know.

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 cups chicken stock

1 cup diced carrots

1 diced onion

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon herbes de provence

1 cup chopped spinach

1 cup grated parmesan

1 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and pepper

firstly, heat the vegetable oil until it's just about smoking in a dutch oven or large pot. while that's happening, salt and pepper the chicken breasts. brown on each side in the hot oil and set aside. continue until all of the chicken is browned and you've some nice bits. leave the chicken breasts whole - you need them whole. shh just trust me.

add onions, garlic, and carrots to the pan (add a drizzle of olive oil if needed to keep things moving along and, you know, not burning). cook, tossing frequently until soft and brown. pour in the chicken stock and add chicken breasts to the stock. add the seasonings (i did a few healthy grinds of salt and pepper in addition to the herbes de provence), stir, and put the lid on.

let the mixture simmer for about fifteen minutes. while this is happening, chop the spinach and grate the cheese. you could totally use preshredded cheese in this case but for the love of god, don't use the stuff in the green can. you want it to get nice and melty, not dissolve. 

once the chicken is cooked (165 or bust), remove it from the liquid and get to shredding it. you could also chop it if you'd like but shredded chicken is my preferred method. at this point, you could also add a handful of small noodles to the broth and turn it into chicken noodle soup and i wouldn't judge you at all. return the shredded chicken to the broth and add the cheese and spinach. 

serve with crusty bread and you're in soup city.