chicken orecchiette soup

i'm going crazy!! i have not cooked for my clients in 4 days!  the weather in atlanta is still so icy.  it is unbelievable what the storm has done to this city.  it has absolutely crippled it.  there have been so many of the interstates that have been completely shut down, and the secondary streets are like skating rinks.  so, i have been stuck inside trying to come up with things to pass the time.  and no, cleaning is not one of those things.  so, i have been taking walks up to the grocery store and returning with bags of food to pass the time.  i made a big pot of chicken noodle soup that was so delicious.  i used orecchiette pasta for the noodle instead of the traditional egg noodle.  it was perfect in this soup.  instead of using an egg noodle that slides off the spoon with every bite, the orecchiette captured  drops of broth, and peas, and carrots.  and the orecchiette almost has a texture close to a dumpling.  i just loved it.  try a smaller pasta next time you make chicken noodle soup, you'll be glad you did!

winter soup

i gotta say, i am glad the holidays are over - and so is my scale.  i don't think it can handle me right now.  it's not use to the extra pounds it has been forced to deal with every morning.  why is it that the "holidays"  don't just consist of thanksgiving and christmas, but that it is a whole darn month of festivity.  don't get me wrong, i am not complaining, this is absolutely my most favorite time of year.  but good lord i over eat.  so, today i made this wonderful soup.  it came together quickly because the ingredients i used were left over from meals i made my clients.  i love it when that happens.  this is a very hearty, healthy, somewhat sweet soup. i loved it.  the base is homemade chicken stock - which i will share my recipe for that at a later post.  i will say this, i don't think store bought stock can touch the real, homemade stuff.  and it is so darn easy to make (it's just hard to store it all).  anyway, i simply dumped all the ingredients into a pot and walked away.  i tossed in cubed sweet potatoes, collard greens, cannellini beans, diced carrots, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  once it all came to a soft boil, i reduced it and let it simmer for about an hour.  that is the beauty about soups, you can really just throw anything in a pot and in a hour you have a big batch of soup that will last for days.