Leftover Chicken Soup-Yum!

This picture does not do the soup justice:


I made some really yummy chicken soup tonight. It was soo good. I thought I'd share what I did, in case you ever want to try it. First, I had some chicken that Alfredo had grilled. It had a good flavor but was dry and we had some leftovers. I knew if I just reheated it that it would be too dry and no one would eat it. So I figured putting it in a soup would add some moisture. I also had some other leftovers, so I basically dumped them all in the pot.

So here's the recipe:

7 or 8 cups chicken broth (more or less depending on how much soup you're making, and actually I was out of chicken broth, so I used water with chicken boullion granules)
leftover cooked, cubed chicken (ours had seasonings, but plain chicken would work fine too)
leftover rice (the rice was from 2 nights ago and had peas and carrots and ham in it)
cut up red potatoes (I had about 4 left and needed to use them before they went bad)
carrots, cup up (I had 1/2 pound of baby carrots left and threw them in)
corn on the cob (In hispanic countries, they just throw the corn in the soup on the cob, just break it in half and throw it in...if you prefer, you could put in frozen corn or cut the corn off the cob)
2 cloves garlic
2-3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro (again, had a little leftover from a dinner a couple of nights ago)
dash of Lawry's (probably not even necessary)

Bring broth to boil. Add potatoes and carrots. Reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes. Then add everything else to pot and let simmer for 15-30 minutes until veggies are tender. This was seriously so yummy! Alfredo's aunt makes a soup like this from time to time and really you can add whatever you have on hand: egg noodles instead of rice, chopped up squash or zuchini or spinach, frozen mixed vegetables, turnips, etc. Be creative. It's easy, it is yummy and it's a great way to use up your leftovers. And I don't think anything in my recipe is a necessity other than the broth, the chicken and the garlic...all the rest are optional, so you can pick and choose based on what you have on hand.

By the way, I love soups in the summertime. I know most people (including Alfredo) think soups are more appropriate in winter, but I love that you can cook them without turning on the oven and heating your house up.

On a somewhat related note, crockpots are also great in the summer and I found a fun blog of a girl who used her crockpot every day in 2008. I've tried a few recipes and they are yummy. You might want to check it out. It is called
Crockpot365.