All the Leaves Are Brown and the Sky is Grey

I love vegetable soup.  I've made several different versions through the years.  This one I wanted to make the veggies stand out a bit more so I started with homemade chicken and vegetable stock with celery, carrots, onion, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves.

I defatted the stock, put it to a rolling boil and then threw in the fresh chopped vegetables and chicken meat, along with some turkey meat from the Thanksgiving bird.  Getting the tip from the Asian soups, allowing the vegetables to cook just until they burst with their individual flavors.  I also added some of my leftover wild rice stuffing to hearty it up.

I started with big chunks or carrots, celery and after 10 minutes put in the zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper, green beans and then for a big splash of zippedy-do-dah, lots of fresh oregano and cilantro and green onion at the end to serve.  Comfort food for this cold early winter while keeping a light after effect on the gut.