Creamy Chicken, Corn & Quinoa Soup with Bacon
Creamy Chicken, Corn & Quinoa Soup with Bacon
Ideally, start this soup (and many others) by slowly poaching a whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces in water with an onion and herbs. This will give you enough stock and meat for 2 batches of this soup or many other soups)
3 thick strips of bacon, diced
2 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, finely diced, about 1 cup
1 celery rib, finely diced, about ½ cup
1 ½ tsp. Cajun spice mix
¼ cup quinoa, raw
3 cups chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh thyme, about 1 tbsp., finely chopped
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
2 tbsp. masa (corn flour) + 4 tbsp. water
½ cup 35% cream
2 cups pulled chicken meat
large handful of parsley, finely chopped, about ¼ cup
juice of ½ lime
2 green onions, sliced for garnish
kosher salt, as needed
Heat a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon and butter and fry bacon until rendered, but not too crispy. Remove bacon, leaving fat behind
Add onion along with a pinch of salt and sweat until soft but not brown, about 2 minutes
Add celery along with a pinch of salt and sweat until soft but not brown
Stir in Cajun spice, and then add quinoa, chicken stock, thyme & corn.
Bring to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer on low for 10 minutes or until quinoa is tender.
Mix masa with water and stir into soup along with the cream, chicken meat and parsley. Return bacon to pot. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Taste for seasoning, then add lime juice.
Serve garnished with green onion