Halloween Horror Soup

I very, very much dislike Halloween. Maybe it's because I'm not creative and can't ever think of a good costume, maybe it's because I have nightmares from seeming innocuous movies like the first Nightmare on Elm Street or maybe it's because I'm mildly afraid of teenagers and they always seem to start trouble on Halloween. Who knows. The one thing I do love about Halloween is the candy. My oh my do I love candy. I especially love "holidays" that are focused on candy because the day after said "holiday" all the candy goes on sale, and one of the few inanimate things I love more than candy is a good sale. So I pretty much only like the day after Halloween, except that fact that it's All Saints Day and if I were the good Catholic my grandparents wanted me to be I'd be busy at Mass not busy buying all the candy. Anywho, I digress. Onto the soup. Why is this a horror, you may wonder. Well, two of the ingredients may invoke fear in some people, specifically the mushrooms and parsnips as I get the feeling society thinks those veggies are grossies, when in fact they are not.

For this Halloween Horror or Chicken and parsnip soup, you'll need: 1 chicken breast, 3 fresh sage leaves, 1 small sprig of rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 shallot, 3 parsnips, 8 oz of cremini mushrooms, a small bit of parsley, 1 can of chickpeas, some broth and hot sauce of your choosing.  Also, in the pursuit of full disclosure, this recipe is in the November 2010 issue of Cooking Light.

First, get the chicken boiling in some water.  I seasoned the water with some salt, pepper, sage leaves and rosemary sprig.  We'll be using the water later, so it seasoning now is a perfectly good idea.

Next, mince the garlic and finely slice the shallots.

Then, slice the parsnips on a diagonal. I was lazy and didn't peel mine, but you could if you'd like.

I opted to chop my mushrooms despite the fact that they were pre-sliced.  I find the pre-sliced pieces are just too large for soup and like them smaller. This is totally optional.

Lastly, finely chop the parsley.  You could skip this too if you'd like. I don't love parsley so for me to tolerate it at all, it needs to be in small pieces.

I chopped all my veggies super fast so my chicken wasn't yet cooked. Never to waste a minute, I got the puppy dressed in his Halloween best. He's the butler, you can call him Wadsworth. Yeah, I know it's gross that my butler doesn't wear pants.

Still had some time to kill, so I got the Halloween candy ready. Yes, handing out candy is in direct conflict with my dislike of Halloween, but I can't let down the children.

More time to kill. Goodness I am fast at chores.  Well, the natural thing to so is start drinking, right? How about some bourbon and apple cider? Yes, I think I will.

Finally, the chicken was cooked. Remove it from the water, but save the water.  Then shred or chop it into small pieces.  Mine was still a tad bit raw, but that's okay because it finished cooking in the soup.

Now, get to cooking. Heat a soup pot over medium heat and add a bit of olive oil.  Once it's hot, add all the veggies.  Stir them up and cook for about 5 minutes.

Next, add the chicken and rinsed and drained chick peas.

Now, add the broth, both the saved chicken-cooking water and additional broth of your choosing.  I added about 5 cups total.

Lastly, add some hot sauce and any salt or pepper you'd like.  Bring this to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for at least 20 minutes or until the parsnips are cooked through.

To serve, top with a bit of the chopped parsley.  If you've already made a cup of bourbon-cider or have a giant bowl of candy nearby, those too make excellent friends for this soup. Enjoy!