Refreshing Chicken Soup with Fresh Mint and Seasonal Vegetables (Caldo de Aves com Hortelã)
A clean, restorative chicken broth filled with tender shredded chicken and whatever vegetables are in season, then lifted with a handful of fresh mint and a squeeze of lemon. It's inspired by the Alentejo region of Portugal, where mint is one of the signature herbs of the kitchen, and it's a cousin of canja, Portugal's beloved chicken soup. Serve it simply as a starter, or slip in a poached egg to make it a meal.
Serves 4-6 · Active: 30 min · Total: 2½-3 hr (mostly hands-off) · Year-round; the vegetables change with the seasons (see below) · Best eaten: midday or early evening
Ingredients
Broth
1 whole pasture-raised chicken or stewing hen (4-5 lb), or the equivalent in backs, wings, and feet for an extra-rich broth
1 onion, halved
3 garlic cloves
2 carrots
Optional: 1 bay leaf and 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
Filtered water to cover (about 3½-4 quarts)
2 tsp Baja Gold sea salt, plus more to taste
Soup
4-5 cups seasonal vegetables, cut into bite-size pieces (see below)
2 cups shredded chicken (from the broth)
A generous handful of fresh mint leaves, torn
Juice of ½ lemon
Extra virgin olive oil, for finishing
Optional: 1 poached egg per bowl
Seasonal Vegetables
Choose 3-4 vegetables from the season you're in (these follow North American seasons):
Spring: asparagus, fresh or frozen peas, spring onions, baby spinach, and baby turnips
Summer: zucchini, green beans, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, and Swiss chard
Autumn: butternut squash, leeks, kale, carrots, and cauliflower
Winter: turnips, parsnips, cabbage, collard greens, and celery root
Add hearty vegetables (squash, root vegetables, green beans, cauliflower) first, since they need 10-15 minutes to soften. Tender ones (peas, spinach, zucchini, chard, tomatoes) need just 3-5 minutes.
Method
Start the broth. Put the chicken, onion, garlic, carrots, optional bay leaf and peppercorns, and salt in a large pot, and cover with cold water by about an inch.
Poach the chicken. Bring it to a bare simmer, with just a few lazy bubbles, never a rolling boil. Skim off any foam that rises. Simmer gently about 1 hour, until the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F.
Shred the meat. Lift out the chicken and let it cool enough to handle. Pull the meat from the bones, shred about 2 cups for the soup, and save the rest for another meal.
Build the broth. Return the bones and skin to the pot and keep simmering gently for another 1½-2 hours, skimming as needed, until the broth is rich and golden.
Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot, and taste for salt.
Cook the vegetables. Bring the broth back to a simmer. Add the hearty vegetables and cook 10-15 minutes, then add the tender ones and cook 3-5 minutes more, until everything is just tender.
Finish. Stir in the shredded chicken to warm through. Off the heat, add the lemon juice and the fresh mint. Adding mint at the very end keeps it bright and fragrant.
Serve. Ladle into bowls, slip in a poached egg if you like, and finish with a thread of olive oil.
To poach the eggs: Bring a small pot of water to a gentle simmer. Crack each egg into a small cup, stir the water into a gentle swirl, and slide the egg into the center. Cook 3-4 minutes, until the white is set and the yolk is still soft, then lift it out with a slotted spoon.
Notes for the Marshall Kitchen
This soup is naturally grain-free, gluten-free, and free of refined sugar. Traditional Portuguese versions often add rice or bread; leave both out, or add a poached egg for extra substance. Use the leftover chicken for the side salad in my Pluma recipe, or for a second meal.
Nourishment Notes
Homemade chicken broth is rich in gelatin, glycine, proline, and minerals drawn from the bones. Broth has long been used to soothe and support the gut lining, and glycine also supports restful sleep. An older stewing hen, or extra wings and feet, makes an especially gelatin-rich broth that sets like jelly in the fridge.
Pasture-raised chicken brings complete protein, B vitamins, selenium, and zinc.
Fresh mint adds menthol, which is cooling and soothing to the stomach, along with rosmarinic acid and a lovely brightness.
Onion, garlic, and carrots bring quercetin, allicin, organosulfur compounds, and beta-carotene.
Seasonal vegetables add fiber, vitamins, and minerals that change with the year: folate from spring greens and asparagus, vitamin C from summer zucchini and tomatoes, beta-carotene from autumn squash, and glucosinolates from winter cabbage and collards.
Pasture-raised eggs bring choline, B12, and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2.
Lemon adds vitamin C, and extra virgin olive oil brings oleic acid and polyphenols.
Sourcing
Chicken — pasture-raised, from a local farm raising birds on pasture, or White Oak Pastures. A stewing hen (an older laying hen) makes the richest broth; ask a local farmer
Chicken backs, wings, and feet (optional) — pasture-raised, from a local farm or butcher, for extra gelatin
Vegetables — organic and in season, from a farmers' market
Fresh mint — organic, from a farmers' market or your garden (it grows like a weed)
Onion, garlic, and carrots — organic, hardneck garlic
Lemons — organic
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm where the hens truly range on pasture, or Alexandre Family Farm (Regenerative Organic Certified)
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated within the past year, in dark glass. For a true taste of Alentejo, look for Azeite de Moura DOP, a protected olive oil from the region
Water — filtered or clean spring water
Baja Gold sea salt
Storage
Strained broth: Refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 6 months. Freeze some in mug-sized portions for easy sipping
Finished soup with vegetables and chicken: Refrigerated up to 4 days. Add fresh mint and a squeeze of lemon when you reheat, rather than storing it in the soup
Leftover shredded chicken: Refrigerated up to 4 days
— Anna aka Food Marshall