Molly-gatawny Soup Recipe

When I was a kid, we ate a lot of soup. Maybe it was because feeding eight kids was a hassle & what better way to make sure they all get their fill than to make one huge pot of soup?

Soup is great. It tastes better each day that it sits in the fridge. It's easy to freeze into single portions. It can sit on the stove and simmer for hours and the flavour only gets better.

I could go on about how much I love soup for a long time, but instead I'll share this recipe with you. It's an old family recipe that I've taken with me to university (I generally have all the ingredients for it on hand, so that's awesome) and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's always been one of my favourites -- though that could just be because of the name.

Anyways, here it goes...

MOLLY-GATAWNY SOUP

SERVINGS: 8ish

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup margarine

• 2 onions, chopped

• 2 carrots, sliced

• 2 celery stalks, sliced

• 2 bell peppers, chopped

• 3 crisp apples, chopped (I like green apples. Anything but red delicious, which suck and are not delicious at all, should work.)

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder

• 2-3 whole cloves, depending on how much you like cloves

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 7 cups chicken broth (keep chicken broth cubes in the cupboard for times like these!)

• 3 or more boneless, skinless chicken thighs

• 1 large can diced tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook chicken in boiling chicken stock, 30 minutes or until done.

2. Melt margarine in large pot; add the first five ingredients (onions to apples) and cook on high until tender, stirring well.

3. Mix flour & spices, stir in with veggies, fruit, and margarine until thoroughly coated, stirring constantly.

4. Remove chicken from broth, chop, and add both to the large pot, stirring to mix.

5. Add tomatoes to soup. Simmer for 15+ minutes.

SERVE hot -- I've heard of people serving with sour cream, but I like it just as it is.

VARIATIONS: a couple fresh tomatoes in place of the can or 1/2 tsp ground cloves in place of whole.

EDIT: fixed formatting... forgot to do double returns, sorry!

bon appetit