"It always smells so great, what are you cooking,” a friend asked recently. I assured her that the simple chicken vegetable soup, simmering on my stove, took all of twenty minutes to prepare. She asked for the recipe, and I complied. A few days later, she called to tell me the soup was a big hit, even with her very hard-to-please little guys. It’s not a recipe as much as a dish “journey” because it uses already cooked supermarket chicken, a relatively new phenomenon. On these hot days, I welcome the opportunity to not heat up the kitchen.
My chicken's journey goes something like this:
Day One
Purchase a cooked chicken, corn on the cob and a bag of mixed salad greens. Cooking and prep time is about fifteen minutes.
Day Two or Three
It isn't necessary to have chicken every day. Chicken salad is perfect for lunch, however. Remove chicken from bird and cut it up into one-inch pieces. You might have about a cup or two of meat. Add a half cup of chopped celery, a teaspoon of pesto if you have it, and enough mayo to moisten the meat. Toss with a cup of seedless red grapes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over a bed of mixed greens or make sandwiches. Save the chicken carcass in a plastic bag in fridge.
Day Three or Four
Remove and meat from the chicken and set aside.
