This soup is loaded with garlic and herbs, and nourishing chicken stock, as well as roasted pumpkin. It's easy, tasty, and likely a good immune booster too. 

Chicken stock is super easy to make. While one can do it with lots of veges in the same way as I make Beef Stock, usually for chicken I keep it simple - just chicken carcasses, water, and salt. 

Every time I roast a chicken, or if I have bones left over from cooking thighs, drumsticks etc, I pop them in a bag in the freezer. When I want to make stock, I pull out enough frozen bones to fill a big pot, cover with water, add some salt, cover, and bring to the boil then simmer for at least 2 hours. 

Remove bones, cool and strain, and that's it! Flavourful, delicous chicken stock - perfect as a base for soups and casseroles, or making chicken broth drinks etc. 

Chicken broth/stock is nourishing for the gut, and helps the immune system fight colds etc.

A great way to use up plentiful broccoli from the garden, or that head or two that's been sitting in the fridge. I like to make this is large batches and freeze. This summer my broccoli plants have just kept pumping; there's only so much you can eat fresh, and I wasn't in the mood to blanch and freeze the latest batch, so I made another large batch of this delicious soup.

This delicious soup is highly nutritious and perfect for cold winter days.

Method:
Dice onions (can use a leek instead) and celery. If desired, celery leaves may also be used (I did so in the large batch pictured, because I was using celery from the garden, but not in the finished bowl shown at the top). Peel and dice potato. Prepare broccoli by cutting into florets. Melt oil or butter in a pot. Add onions and celery stalks, saute for a few minutes until softened but not browned. Add potato and cook a further few minutes. Add chicken stock, celery leaves (if used), and broccoli. Bring to boil and simmer with lid on until broccoli tender, stirring a couple of times - about 25 mins. 

If eating right away, process soup through food processor to make smooth. Return to pot, reheat, add finely chopped parsley and simmer 2 mins, add seasonsings to taste, lemon juice, and stir in some coconut cream (do not boil once cream is in). Serve. 

If freezing, allow soup to cool, process in batches through a food processor, transferring to a large bowl as you go. Stir all together, then divide into suitable size containers, label and freeze. When ready to use, defrost a container, reheat in a pot, and add seasonings, coconut cream etc as above. 

I've been wanting a pleasant, fairly mild tomato soup recipe for a while. Last year I made a delicious but strongly flavoured soup using Lynda Hallinan's recipe - but my husband wasn't keen on it after a few times. With a constant supply of tomatoes at this time of year, I've been on the look out for something different. And I found it!

This week I came across this recipe: http://paleoleap.com/tomato-soup/ and made it for dinner. And it was good! The chicken stock I used was brewed that day in the crockpot (since I was all out of previous batches in my freezer). This recipe is full of nutritious delights, warm, comforting and soothing, but has no gluten or dairy (ok, I ruined that by serving mine with fresh-baked homemade bread and butter, just because I really wanted to), and is not full of the spices that I and some others struggle with. You could, however, dress it up or add other ingredients to suit your fancy.

In fact, the recipe was so good that the following day I made a very big batch for my freezer. 

Update: Feb 2018 I made another double batch of the soup, which is still wonderful! This time I decided to de-seed the tomatoes first, as I had read that the seeds can give a slight bitter taste to soups, and because I wanted to save lots of seeds from my heritage tomatoes for next year. To de-seed, cut washed tomatoes in half horizontally, scoop seeds into a seive over a bowl with a teaspoon. Use a wooden spoon to force all the juice and pulp through the seive, leaving the seeds. Add the juice to the soup pot. If saving the seeds, place into a jar and cover with water. Ferment for 2 days, then rinse and spread on a paper towel to dry before storing (they may stick to the paper - you can just cut it up into bits and plant seeds, paper and all). 

You'll love this soup - go make yourself a batch. You'll be very glad you did! I'm posting the recipe below for my own reference - nothing worse than a favourite recipe disappearing off the internet one day - with instructions for slight variation in order to make in bulk and freeze. Since this recipe contains chicken stock, it is best suited to freezing.

Method:
Heat coconut oil or fat in large pot over medium heat. Add carrot and onion, and cook until soft - about 10 mins. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock and basil. Season to taste and stir everything together. 

Bring to boil and then simmer over low heat for 30 mins, uncovered. 

If serving all of the soup immediately, stir in coconut milk or cream now - otherwise leave out (see below). 

Process the soup in batches through a food processor until smooth. Return to pot. 

Serve, or as in my case, serve up the bowlful you want to eat now, stir in 2-3 dessertspoons of coconut cream, and devour with fresh bread. :-). Set rest aside to cool, then pour into suitable containers and freeze. To serve, defrost, reheat, then stir in milk/cream.