Making Chicken Vegetable Soup: a Meditation of Revisiting My Self

It is time now for my weekly ritual: the vegetables and last of the chicken are waiting in the fridge. I have 2 ½ hours free. I am ready and needing to focus and be with me––to nourish, care for my well-being and that of my loved ones.

First: tend to the chicken and her bones. Imagine: we are eating her muscles! Or, don’t think about the fact: we are carnivores! Just  pare the meat from  bones. Bones and skin are put in a pot with chicken broth and olive oil to brew “bone broth” for about 45 minutes. Rosemary, thyme, garlic, etc. are added for taste and nutrition. While the broth is brewing, I prepare, embrace, talk with the vegetables. I cut herbs-spices, garlic, ginger, scallions, radishes, moving on to carrots, celery, into small, varied shapes, as I say their names, like a child wanting both to be close to and to honor and remember them––their particular beauty and smells. (I am back in my father’s victory garden in Midland, Michigan growing them again.) They are then joined together in a frying pan with the bone-broth, and simmered over a low heat for 15 minutes, as more bone-broth is cooked up for the second assortment of vegetables.

These are chosen depending on my taste buds’ inclination that day and availability. An assortment could be: Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, green squash,, corn, peas, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes––all cut into appropriate shapes and sizes to fit the human mouth and taste.

Again, I commune with each vegetable, amazed with their varied shapes and colors. “Little Brussel sprout, who made thee?” And I am back in my own many vegetable gardens that I’ve tended through the decades needing to reclaim my relation to earth-land. This second batch of veggies are then simmered for 15 minutes as the first batch was.

Finally, the bite size pieces of chicken have their turn with simmering in the marinated sauce with fennel seeds and Worcestershire and garlic powder added. All elements are then joined in a big pot along with rice or pasta. After the whole mix is seasoned to taste––it might need more olive oil, salt, chicken broth and some tomato-basil sauce––the completed soup is simmered briefly so that all parts will blend together. Soon we will sit at the table together and nourish ourselves with this “love potion.”