Let’s face it: this time of year begs for recipes that you can get on the table in no time. This wonderful soup takes all of 15 minutes to make and it’s a perfect warmer for a winter night. With a tossed green salad and some crusty French bread, it’s an ideal supper any day of the week. Leave out the bread, and it’s a gluten-free dinner! The timesaver here is, of course, the rotisserie chicken. I find the ones at Costco irresistible. At under $5.00, they’re a bargain that’s as tasty as any home made chicken. And there’s a lot of meat on these birds—so much so that you may find the quantity of chicken in the original Bon Appetit recipe, 4 cups, is happily met by using just the breasts. The rest of the chicken can sit in the fridge and used for chicken sandwiches for lunch. You can use any kind of mushrooms but shiitakes and creminis will up the flavor more than white button mushrooms. The ginger slices ramp up the taste. If you’re not mad for spice, keep tasting as you add the cayenne pepper, it’s what gives the soup its name. A word to the wise about the spinach: Put a half cup of baby spinach leaves in the bottom of each soup bowl and pour the hot soup over it. It will cook right up in the bowl and add a jolt of green to the proceedings. Here’s the recipe:
Recipe for Spicy (Rotisserie) Chicken Soup
Serves 4. Takes 15 minutes to make.
1 prepared rotisserie chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1″ piece ginger, peeled, sliced into quarter-sized slices
2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups baby spinach
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Lime wedges (for serving)
1.
Pick meat from chicken, shred, and place in a small bowl (you should
have about 4 cups); discard skin and bones.
2.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and
mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and
2 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add shredded chicken, broth,
and cayenne and bring to a boil.
3.
Put ½ cup of spinach into each soup bowls. Pour the warm soup over
the spinach. Top with scallions and serve lime wedges alongside for
squeezing over.