Chicken and Veggie Soup with Lemon

Children change everything. Winter used to mean Christmas (YAY!!!!) and Parties (YAY!!!) and fake holidays where everyone eats appetizers (Super Bowl!!! The Oscars!!!). After children, winter is that, AND a seemingly endless cycle of sick. It's better now that they are older, but still. December-March means cough, booger-nose, tummy troubles, fever, repeat. Small children tend to cough right into your mouth, without even trying! Whomp-whomp, everyone is sick.

But don't worry. I have soup. Lazy soup. Lazy soup with things you might have lurking in your fridge and pantry. Also, its very low in Smart Points, 1 point for a giant, comforting bowl.

I kinda winged this recipe. HOWEVER, the base is straight out of Americas Test Kitchen's (ATK) Family cookbook. Their recipe (for chicken pot pie p. 323) involves sautéing onions in butter then splashing in dry sherry to deglaze, and that shit is delicious. Per ATK's recommendation, you've got to use this sherry though:

Other sherries, especially the less expensive ones, have a certain, "Essence of Old Lady," thats not wanted, ever. Not that Fairbanks is particularly expensive. I think its around $7-$8 per bottle, and lasts me well over a year.

Yield: 4 servings, 1 sp per serving

Ingredients:

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1/2 diced sweet onion
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced in half
1 TBS Fairbanks Sherry
1 cup Kitchen Basics Veggie Stock
3 cups Kitchen Basics Unsalted Chicken Stock
(you can use one or the other, as long as its 4 cups)
1 cooked chicken breast, diced or shredded (I used rotisserie chicken)
1/2 sliced lemon
1 cup frozen corn (I like HEB super sweet corn)
1 cup frozen peas (I like HEB petit peas)
2 TBS dried parsley
1-2 cups fresh kale, torn into bite-sized pieces (or other greens, if you hate kale)
Salt, to taste (I like Diamond Crystal) and I used about 14 grams


1. Add oil to 4 quart sauce pan and heat over medium high. Add onion and sauté until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic and sherry to pot, scraping up any brown bits.

3. Add both kinds of broth, lemons, parsley and turn heat to high. After broth begins to simmer, pour a bit in a bowl, cool it off and taste it. Add salt to taste. The amount of salt in my hand turned out to be 14 grams.

4. When mixture begins to boil, add in frozen peas and corn.

5. Bring back to a boil, then add chicken and kale.

6. Stir, turn heat to medium, and cook until chicken is warmed through, and kale begins to wilt.

7. Enjoy! Note, before storing or serving, REMOVE THE LEMON SLICES. You can leave them in if you like intensely, sour, bitter food. No judgements.