January 28, 2007

Chicken Noodle Soup - Gluten Free

One of my children's favorite soup is Chicken Noodle. When my son was little it was the only way I could get him to eat carrots. He loved to eat the soft carrots, the warm broth and the slurpy noodles. Creating a gluten-free version of Chicken Noodle soup that my children enjoyed has been a long standing challenge.

Over the last several years, I've made different versions of chicken noodle soup, but my kids have always disliked the results. Two months ago, I made this soup with Quinoa noodles in my crock pot. I wanted the soup to be ready to serve by the time we got home from gymnastics. So, I added the dry noodles to the soup to cook for the hour we were going to be gone. My mistake...I made a murky chicken and quinoa dumpling soup. The kids wouldn't eat it. Try...try...again.

I've found a wonderful substitute for the pasta noodles in the soup. Trader Joe's is now carrying brown rice pasta spaghetti noodles. They are made of brown rice flour and water. They will maintain their shape and don't dissolve in the leftover broth.

I kept trying and I've come up with a winner. It's a quick recipe for your crock pot.

Recipe

1 can (12.5 oz) of canned chicken
8 cups water or 6 cups chicken broth & 2 cups vegetable broth
4-5 fresh celery leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or more if you like your broth spicier)
2/3 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup sliced carrot
2 Tb minced dried parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
sea salt to taste
brown rice noodles

In a crock pot, add all the ingredients except for the noodles. Set the crock pot to simmer and allow it to cook for 1 to 1/2 hours. Cook the brown rice noodles according to the package directions. Just before serving the soup, add the noodles to the crock pot and stir. Make sure to separate any noodles that are stuck together.

My judges are always enthusiastic about this recipe. It is one of our favorite winter meals. The brown rice noodles are the real hit with my kids. More like wheat noodles, they hold together and have a milder flavor than noodles made of quinoa. This recipe is a keeper at our house.

4 comments:

Happy Homemaker said...

I keep hoping for the day a Trader Joe's settles near here. Right now the nearest one is hours away. Soup looks fabulous. I'm going to try it with another brown rice noodle and see how it goes.

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Happy Homemaker - I'm sure it will turn out beautifully.

Sheltie Girl

angie said...

Have you tried the Glutano Tagliatelle noodles? I use those in my chicken noodle soup and my kids love them. I undercook them a little, separate from the soup, and they're perfect! They even survive freezing.

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

G - I haven't seen the Tagliatelle noodles from Glutano. Thanks for the tip, I'll keep my eye out for them.

Sheltie Girl