what's for dinner: chicken and vege gnocchi soup

 It is officially soup weather here in Australia.  I say that because I sat in the living room with three of my housemates tonight, all of us with our hands in our sleeves, covering our noses, trying make our world's just a bit warmer.

One of the great things about living in a house with people from all over the world is they introduce many new flavors into your world.  My housemate Van made amazing chicken and rice soup the other night, which included fresh ginger.  Fresh ginger is something that I have never cooked with, but after a few tips from Van and Mel, I made my best attempt at my own version of chicken and vegetable soup.

 Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 bag gnocchi noodles
Chicken Stock
1 Parsnip
1 Carrot
3 Potatoes
1 Onion
2 TB fresh minced garlic
1 TB fresh ginger

The How To:

1. Chop your potatoes, parsnip, and carrot

2. Boil them in a pot of water until they are done.  Drain off about 1/2 the liquid.  Leave the rest to use as part of your stock

3. Chop your onion and dice your ginger root (Van also taught me to smash the root a bit to get maximum flavors).  The ginger adds such a nice kick to the soup.

4. Place this amazing flavor combination of onion, ginger and garlic in a skillet and cook.

5. Chop chicken and add to the skillet with the onion, garlic, and ginger root.  Cook until chicken is done.

6. Add the chicken stock to your vege broth mixtre.

7. Add the cooked chicken, with all the yummy spices and juices to the chicken stock and vege broth pot.

8.  Let it all cook together for about 5 minutes, then simply dump in the gnocchi noodles in.  Allow them about 5 minutes to cook through.  

9. Dish up and enjoy.  It is the perfect treat on a cold autumn night.