Tomatillo Chicken Soup (Vegan variation suggested)

Here's the Math: Bumper crop of Tomatillos + Sick Hubby = Tomatillo Chicken Soup

I said "Bumper Crop" & this is just a tiny portion of my patch of Tomatillos!

This recipe is something completely new, I just felt like branching out and doing something I'd not done before, playing with ingredients in odd combinations, & playing with spices in soup that I'd not played with before, and it came out nice… that said its kinda hard to mess up soup, such basic stuff.  Truth be told I was hoping to have the chicken separate from the soup… hmmm… read on...

Ingredients:
  6 cups Rough Chopped (RC) Tomatillos
  1 cup RC Bell Pepper
  1 RC medium Onion (mine was purple)
  1 cup RC Carrots
  1 RC cooking Apple (I used McIntosh), cored but not peeled
  2 cloves Garlic (whole)
  4 cups Vegetable Stock (I used Better Than Bouillon Vegetable + Water)
  1 Tbl Sea Salt (plus more for cooking the chicken)
  1 Tbl Celery Flakes (or sub in 1 stalk of RC Celery)
  1 tsp Caraway Seeds (whole seeds)
  1/2 tsp dried Orange Zest
  1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds (whole seeds)
  1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage
  1/4 tsp ground Ancho Chili
  Spray Olive Oil
  2 Boneless / Skinless Chicken Breasts

Directions: throw everything but the Chicken into a pot, bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 30 minutes - you want the apples to be falling apart.

Once cooked well remove from heat and use an Immersion Blender to blend it into a smooth concoction.  Return to the heat, cover and to continue to simmer.

At this point in my experiment the soup tasted pretty good but was "missing something".  It needed something more Savory… so I added in the sage (which it didn't have originally) and decided to add the chicken directly into the soup.  In hind sight I'd have still added the sage, but might have opted to try Bacon Salt instead of adding in the chicken - to have a vegan/vegetarian option (feel free to try this if you like).

Take the chicken breasts and cut into thin slices, brown in a non-stick skillet sprayed with Olive Oil & seasoned with finely ground Sea Salt.  You want the chicken to get a little golden, don't worry about the golden stuff stuck to the skillet - you'll be using it.

Remove the chicken & golden bits from the skillet onto a cutting board, dice into very small pieces, add the chicken bits into the soup, cover and continue to simmer.  I suggest letting it simmer for at least another 20 minutes.

Feed to sick hubby & enjoy… we did!  We decided it reminds us a bit of Hot & Sour Soup, that's the sort of flavor it has & the chicken bits reinforce that impression.