à soupe de la semaine

This week's lunch soup: Chicken, potato, vegetable.

Lots of spinach, but eating more veggies is part of my goal with lunch soup.

The recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion
3 carrots
2 cloves garlic
2 skinless chicken thighs
3 cubes of chicken bullion (could also use a quart of chicken broth)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 bag frozen spinach
3 small red potatoes (because they were beginning to grow eyes & we needed to use them up)
Rosemary, basil, oregano, sea salt & black pepper to taste
Liquid smoke (a few dashes depending on the strength of your broth and your taste buds)

Tablespoon of lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a stock pot. Add onions and carrots and fry for a couple of minutes. Add chicken thighs. Brown on each side (a minute or two on each side). Stir in garlic for about 30 seconds.

2. Add chicken bullion and enough water to fill pot about 3/4 full. Bring to boil, add potatoes. Cover, reduce heat back to medium or medium high and simmer until chicken and potatoes are done (about 15 minutes).

3. When chicken is cooked, remove and cut off bone and shred with a knife and fork. Return chicken to pot. Add tomatoes.

4. Bring back to boil. Add spinach. When soup is boiling again (it will stop once cold foods are added), reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer as long as instructions on package of frozen spinach say to cook.

5. Add tablespoon of lemon juice (white wine would also work, but I love just a hint of lemon). So good! Adding a little acidity at the end of a dish is something I read about recently, and it was a real surprise what a big difference one tablespoon of lemon juice made.

Looks like about 5 servings.