Curried chicken and vegetable soup

Curried chicken and vegetable soup

With gale force winds and plenty of rain this weekend, it was perfect soup weather.  Plus I felt like I needed a good dose of vegetables after a week of cocktail drinking and plenty of eating in Rarotonga.   This soup is packed full of a range of vegetables and is a good source of B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin A and plenty of antioxidants too.  It’s a nutritious lunch or light dinner that provides lots of nutrients to keep your immune system purring this winter.   We had it for a quick dinner and I had it for lunch today too. Gotta love left overs!

Here’s how:

1/2 a butternut pumpkin
2  parsnips
1 medium kumara
1 small red onion
1 whole garlic bulb
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 head of broccoli
2 leeks
100g free range chicken breast
4 litres of chicken stock

Preeat the oven to 180 degrees.  Peel the pumpkin, parsnips and kumara and cut into small chunks.  Peel the onion and cut into large chunks.  Place in a roasting dish along with the bulb of garlic.  Drizzle over the olive oil and rub through the vegetables.  Roast for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked.

While the vegetables are roasting, chop up the broccoli and leeks.  Add to a pot with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.

Take the garlic bulb from the oven dish and squeeze the cloves from the skin.  They should slide out nicely.  Add half to the soup along with the roasted vegetables.

Finely slice the chicken breast and to the soup.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

With a stick blender, lightly blend the soup so there are still a few small chunky bits of vegetables.