Mediterranean-Style Chicken Soup

The last couple of weeks have seen the temperature dropping and a lot more people coming down with the coughs and colds often associated with this time of year.  It may be an old wives tale, but there is a lot to be said for a bowl of homemade chicken soup.  In many traditional cultures cooking broths from bones was said to help heal and strengthen the body.  There is also the obvious comfort you get from consuming a steaming hot bowl of soup.  This recipe is one that I have adapted from a book called 'Trupp's Wholefood Kitchen' and is a slight variation on the 'typical' chicken soup recipe.  You can make this as a vegetarian/vegan soup by substituting seasoned tempeh or smoked tofu for the chicken.

What you will need:

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 1 cup of white wine
• 2 litres of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 4 medium-sized, firm fleshed potatoes
• 1 large leek, finely sliced
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 1 handful of green and black olives
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp salted baby capers
• 2 tablespoons of butter (substitute with oil for vegan version)
• 1 pinch of saffron
• few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 4 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

What you need to do:

1.  Rinse the chicken legs (remove skin if desired) and place into a stockpot.  Cover with wine and water, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.

2.  Peel potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes.  Remove the dark green leaves and cut the leek in half, and then into 1cm squares.

3.  Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add potatoes, leek, garlic and capers.  Cook for 5 - 6 minutes over medium heat, and then add to chicken in stock-pot.

4.  Chop tomatoes into 1cm cubes.  Add tomatoes and saffron to stock-pot and bring to the boil.  Cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

5.  Meanwhile, chop thyme and parsley.  Pitt olives if not already done.

6.  Remove chicken legs from stock.  Get rid of any remaining skin and discard.  Remove all meat from the bones and return the meat to the stock.

7.  Add thyme, olives, parsley and season with salt and pepper.

8.  Serve drizzled with olive oil.