Chicken Soup with Chipotle-Lime Broth

One of the benefits of avoiding packaged foods is rediscovering some of the simple pleasures of making basic ingredients yourself. Yesterday I made chicken stock, which filled my house with a wonderful, hunger-inducing aroma. Homemade stock has a quality that cannot be re-created in the packaged version, a rich fullness that makes you want to pick up your bowl and drink down the broth after finishing the soup.

I made enough stock to last me a while, I hope, but of course I couldn’t resist making a batch of soup right away. To flavor the soup, I simmered some of the stock for a while with spring onions, garlic and dried chipotles. The chipotles lent the broth a smoky spiciness that wasn’t too overwhelming. I also added the juice of one lime for some acidity and brightness.

To finish the soup, I added shredded, cooked chicken, spinach, corn and diced avocado as a garnish. It was light but satisfying, and good enough that I drank down the broth when I was finished.

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Chipotle Pasta Salad

This is a super-easy pasta salad that makes for a nice change of pace from the traditional macaroni salad. Use macaroni or any other small pasta shape. The recipe comes from The New Best Recipe.

Chipotle Pasta Salad

Serves: 2-4
Time to make: ~15 minutes

What you need:

• ¼ lb. macaroni or other small pasta, cooked
• 1 whole garlic clove
• ¼ cup frozen corn
• 2 scallions, minced
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. chipotle in adobo, minced
• ½ tbsp. lemon juice

1. In a dry nonstick skillet, toast the garlic clove and corn until the corn is spotty brown, about 5 minutes
2. Mince the garlic and combine with the corn, scallions, tomatoes and pasta
3. Mix the mayonnaise, chipotle and lemon juice
4. Toss the pasta with the mayonnaise mixture until well-combined