Hearty Chicken & Vegetable Soup

Remove the giblets and neck from the chicken and wash the chicken.

Ingredients

Broth
1 chick en (stewing chicken 5-6 lbs.)
2 tsp. salt
2 large stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large yellow onion, sliced
8-10 cups water (enough to cover chicken)

Soup
⅔ cup small pasta, uncooked (Mini-Mac or alphabets)
2 cups carrots, peeled, sliced (rounds)
1 ½ cups green beans cut into ½-inch pieces
1 ½ cups celery cut into ¼-inch slices
1 cup onion, chopped in small pieces
4 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped (2 tsp. dried) or other herbs to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine the chicken, salt, celery, onion, and water in a large (6- to 8-quart) soup pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, for 3 hours for fowl or 2 hours for frying chicken. Skim the fat from the top while cooking, if necessary. Remove from the heat, remove the chicken from the bones, and cut it into small pieces when cool enough to handle. Set the chicken aside.

Discard the celery from the broth. Skim the fat from the broth and strain it, if desired. It is not essential to strain the broth, as the remaining onion will not harm the quality of the soup. Bring the broth back to a boil and add the pasta, carrots, beans, celery, onion, and chicken pieces. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the cabbage and basil. Cook for 4 minutes longer or until the cabbage is crisp-tender. Correct the seasoning.