Chicken Vegetable Soup

Snow is falling here today, actually blowing all over the place. I'm thankful that I don't have anywhere to go today and me and my little sweet pea can just stay inside and stay nice and toasty warm. This would be a great soup for a day like today. The ingredients are rather simple and it doesn't have to cook too long (with exception of cooking the chicken). I made this last week and it makes a huge batch. We were able to enjoy it many days and just finished it on Monday. Ryan had a bit of a cold and this soup seemed to help him get over it.

Chicken Vegetable Soup From Simply in Season
3 pound whole chicken
3 cups carrots, diced
2 cups celery, diced
2 medium onions, diced
1 medium parsnip, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups kale, chopped (I omitted since I didn't have any)
1 1/2 tsp fresh dill or 1/2 tsp dried

Cook chicken in water to cover. Cool, remove meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces. Reserve broth. In a large soup pot, saute in 2 T olive oil the carrots, celery, onion, parsnip and garlic. Add a little water for steam. Add the ground red pepper and salt and pepper to taste and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender but not mushy, 15 minutes. Add water to chicken broth to make 12 cups. Add to soup mixture along with cooked chicken. Add the broccoli, kale and dill and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer to blend flavors.

This is very good reheated!!