You’ll all understand this. I was feeling a little under the weather and I wanted comfort food. Say, chicken soup. Or how about a lemon chicken soup, something along the Greek recipe route. But we can never leave enough alone, can we? Well what fun would THAT be...

So to start the weekend with one recipe for a Crock Pot Lemon Chicken Soup and have that evolve into something even better was fun. I really wasn’t in the mood for a whole lot of noodles or orzo. More into lots of healthy veggies, fresh herbs and spices was much more appealing. So we keep the basics but have a little fun with how much of what is used. I love lemon and dill together so that was a must.

But we keep the quality with an organic edge with veggies, low sodium chicken broth and chicken, fresh lemons and a lovely slow simmer that fills the house with an aroma that’s impossible to resist. It doesn’t take much time to prep, about 15 minutes or so and around 6 ½ hours in the crock pot. The original recipes said it served six and that’s six generous servings. Quite honestly, I would have no problem thickening the broth and say hello to a stew. Why not! If you have a few tips and tricks to share I’d love to hear them - as always send the my way at ann.kelly@coxinc.com.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ANN KELLY’S KITCHEN

I live on good soup not fine words - Moliere

Ann Kelly’s New Favorite Lemon/Herb Chicken Soup

3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 large carrots peeled, sliced

2 stalks chopped celery

2-32 oz containers organic low sodium chicken broth

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp Italian seasoning

1 tbsp fresh dill, minced

3 bay leaves

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to your taste

*I also add some frozen chopped spinach to individual servings.

I spray the inside of the crock pot with EVOO to make cleanup much easier, then place the chicken breasts in the bottom and the carrots and celery on top along with the broth, garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, dill and bay leaves. Use the low setting and cook for about  6 ½ hours. Check to make sure your chicken is completely cooked. Then take the bay leaves out and take two forks to shred the chicken. Mine was done so beautifully it pretty much fell apart! Now add the rest of your ingredients and give it a good stir so nothing sticks.

If you do want to add orzo or noodles, add that when you’re adding the final ingredients for the final 30 minutes. Since I was freezing the majority of my soup I did not add any. It would get way too mushy. Do that when you’re reheating later. But It love the soup sans any pasta. Freezes beautifully.