Chicken Soup with Capsicum

One of the ways I live through college is by making food that can be eaten over and over again for a single course that lasts around a week. Last week, for instance, was a sheet carrot cake with neufchatel cheese icing. The neufchatel acted as a sealant to prevent the cake from going stale in the refrigerator. And tell you me, that cake was delicious. But I ran out, so I decided to make chicken soup.

Traditional chicken soup is salty, and somewhat bland. Its vitamin content comes exclusively from onions and carrots. As I am neither sick nor vitamin deficient, there is no need to be bound by tradition. Further, the starch in a chicken noodle soup are noodles, which inflate in the soup when it is kept and become disgustingly mushy over time. Since the soup will have to keep for a week or so, noodles are right out.

Out of necessity, I replaced the carrots with two red capsicums, the kind that are called bell peppers or such over here. (The carrots, as you may have guessed, were exhausted in last week's carrot cake).

Ingredients

1. Three boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat and gristle. (As no one seriously likes gristle in one's soup).
2. Two onions, three medium Idaho potatoes, four cloves of garlic
3. Two red capsicums. If one is feeling festive, substitute one with a green capsicum.
4. Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin
5. A small amount of either vegetable or olive oil
6. 32 ounces (900g) of chicken broth, preferably low sodium, unless you're into high blood pressure.

Method

1. Defrost the chicken. Obtain a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to contain the chicken and then some. Place the chicken on the foil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Take a tablespoon each of salt and cumin, along with a half tablespoon each of black pepper, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Sprinkle the mixture over the chicken and rub it in a bit.
3. Peel the garlic by smashing it, but leave each clove more or less whole. Tuck them in around the chickens. Divide one of the onions into eighths and tuck these around the chickens as well. Drizzle with a small amount of oil.
4. Fold the foil into a pouch by crimping two opposite ends together and rolling up the other two ends. Make sure that the pouch is secure, but that some steam can escape if necessary. (Exploded chicken pouches are rarely tasty).
5. Bake the pouch on a roasting pan for ninety minutes.
6. Meanwhile, dice the potato and the remaining onion. Remove the seed and placenta from both capsicums and slice into strips, cutting each strip in half.
7. When the chicken is done, shred it in accordance with the principles of Jenchiladas (from which the chicken part of this process was derived).
8. In a large soup pot, heat a small amount of oil. Over medium heat, saute the vegetables until the onion begins to become transparent and the potatoes are about half done.
9. (Here, I would like to deglaze the pan with some white wine before continuing, but alas, my pantry is rather bare.)
10. Add all of the broth and two to three cups of water to the pot, along with the shredded chicken.
11. Season further with black and cayenne pepper to taste.
12. Boil, covered, over high heat until the potatoes are fully cooked. Let cool before serving.

The end product is richer than a standard chicken noodle, and after setting for a bit takes on a beautiful orange color from the peppers and the broth. If one had entirely too much time on one's hands, the capsicums could be peeled or even roasted as the peel provides a bit of resistance and mars the mouthfeel of the soup. Definitely a winter soup, as its density closely approaches that of a stew. Also, vaguely reminiscent of gazpacho. Except warm.