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Chicken soup can be made Vegan style with Seitan as well!

 

Whenever the kids or my husband and I are feeling sick, this is the perfect pick me up for our sick days-especially in the winter months! This is also my husband’s all-time favorite meal! You can easily make this Vegan-see the changes below. I make my soup a bit spicy when I am sick, because the spices help kick my cold’s butt quicker that way, but the recipe below only has the normal amount of spices-if you are brave, feel free to up the ante, and add some extra cayenne, curry and garlic-not too much though, or you won’t want to eat it 🙂 *Note-this makes a BIG pot of soup that should last you for a few days-especially nice if you are sick and don’t want to keep cooking-feel free to cut the recipe down for smaller amounts. Get well soon-MWAH! Bon Apetit!

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Whole chicken, or 8 legs/thighs-you can also use 6 chicken breasts *VEGANS-use a package of Chicken style or traditional Seitan-cut in bite size pieces-my favorite is Upton’s Naturals (see picture)
  • 2 bunches of green onions-chopped up-using the green tops too
  • 1 bunch chopped cilantro
  • 1 bunch chopped parsley
  • 5-6 chopped carrots
  • 5-6 chopped celery sticks
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic-diced (you can throw them in a small food processor, or hand chop)
  • 3-4 sprigs of fresh dill, or 2 T. dried dill
  • 5 T. Chicken Consomme Powder-The brand I use has no chicken and is Vegan-You can find it in your local grocery’s kosher section-the brand is OSEM (see picture)
  • Sometimes I throw some chopped mushrooms in, or some chopped and peeled sweet potato or squash-it really depends on your taste, and what you feel like adding.
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 to 1t. Cayenne pepper powder
  • 1 to 3t. Curry powder ( I love curry, so I probably put about 3t.)
  • 1 t. Garlic powder and onion powder is optional
  • 1 t. Margaram (optional)
  • BIG stock pot
  • Matzo Ball box mix-you can find this in the kosher section (see picture) Follow all directions on box (vegans-use an egg substitute) *SEE BELOW FOR TIPS
  • *ADD ONLY 15 minutes before serving! 1/2 a bag or box of noodles-my favorite noodles are the thin, short noodles-but use whatever you prefer

I don’t have any order to adding the ingredients, other than putting the chicken in first. After putting all ingredients (EXCEPT FOR THE NOODLES) into a pot, fill pot with water to cover all ingredients. COVER WITH LID, and cook for about an hour, to an hour and a half, on low heat-check to make sure you always have enough water in the pot, and stir every once in a while. Before adding matzo balls and noodles to the pot-remove chicken and let cool long enough so you can remove the meat from the bones, and discard any bones. Then add the chicken back into the pot, and pour noodles in, and carefully drop matzo balls into the soup. Let cook for about 20 minutes so your matzo balls are thoroughly cooked in the middle. Enjoy!

TIPS~

*Instead of the water that you are supposed to add to the matzo balls, I always add soup broth. I also love to add chopped cilantro and chives into the mix. To help the matzo balls from sticking to your hands, while forming, keep a bowl of warm water on the side, and make sure you have water on your hands, and clean your hands before forming each ball.

*Instead of chopping the garlic, if you have a garlic press, you can use this and it is quicker, and just as good.

My favorite brand!

 

My favorite brand for Seitan-they have other flavors as well-I buy this at Whole Foods

This brand is Vegan-but has the best flavor

 

I love my garlic press because it keeps my hands from smelling garlicky!