The Soup Base

I call this the Soup Base because I start a lot of soups off this way, varying them by adding a spice here and there or an equation of varying veggies. One pot may get kabocha, zucchini, and carrots, another spinach & parnips. Also, I rarely ever measure things, I eye-ball a lot so this recipe is loose and even better, yummy!

Basic Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to season (couple TBSPs or more)
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
4 medium celery stalks
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 & 1/2 cup brown rice or Lundberg's Brown Rice Mix
1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup green split peas

Start by cutting up your onion, carrots, and celery. The french call it mirepoix, I call it the secret to great soup. I use a ceramic slicer (by Kyocera, it's yellow and I got it from Williams Sonoma) to make paper thin slices of all 3 veggies and it goes by faster than hand cutting it all. I've also used my mini food processor to get everything diced up but I find that using the thin slicer makes it break down better. I dunno, could be me but it works every time. You can slice all veggies into a big bowl and put aside.

With your chicken, just rinse and keep the skin on. Allow the water to drain off the chicken, you'll want the skin dry so you get a nice sear on the skin which in turn will add flavor to your soup.

In another bowl combine your split peas and rice and rise well. Set aside

To the stove! With your nice large soup pot on the hot stove, get your oil heated and cook down the mirepoix just enough to soften it. It's a lot of mirepoix but that's the point, all those veggies flavors melt nicely into the soup. After softened, push the mirepoix to the sides of the pot and make a space for the chicken thighs. Before you put the thighs in, reduce heat to 75%, then place them into the pot, skin down.

I usually take the mirepoix from the sides and pile it ontop of the thighs. I'll cover the pot, and let the heat sizzle the chicken skin till brown.

The split peas and rice get dumped in next and just tossed around for a bit (a minute or two). Then the whole mixture gets covered with enough water (12 cups more or less) to allow it all to cook . Allow the pot to come to a rolling bowl then turn the heat down and let it boil and boil. As the soup cooks, the split peas break down, the rice cooks, then starts to stew, and the chicken becomes soft. As the soup thickens, turn the heat down more and stir as needed. Take the thighs out and shred the meat off the bone, discard bone and skin (if you can find it). Return chicken to pot, check seasoning, and you're good to go! I'd say the whole thing takes 1 to 2 hrs depending on your speed, the stove top, and how hungry you are...

As far as seasoning goes, I usually salt and pepper everything after the split peas have broken down and the soup begins to thicken.

A few simple soup variations:

1. Use red lentils instead of split peas
2. Use ground chicken or turkey instead of chicken thighs
3. Add cut up fresh jalepeno to add kick to the soup
4. Add 2 or 3 different kinds of veggies to add texture

Always remember that cooking is about fine the flavors that you like. So don't be afraid to experiment and think about what you love to eat. I'm sure there's SOME way to make something like it that isn't full of preservatives and ingredients that take away from your health instead of adding to it.