Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

So I went on an 18k run today. It was TOUGH. It was raining the whole time and it the wind was so cold it turned the raindrops into little mini bullets that shot at my face with startling precision.

Normally things like the weather don't bother me, but when you're 90 minutes into a gruelling run, around 4 miles away from home, it starts to get a bit old after a while.

So when I finally arrived back at the flat, even though I felt I had achieved something, the general consensus was a pathetic feeling of self pity. So I decided to make a massive vat of soup to cheer myself up.

Soup. I freaking love soup. It is the food of the Gods. I mean, all it is is a bunch of really good stuff in lovely, comforting hot water. It's low in calories and fat but packed to the brim with nutrients. What's not to like?!

So this is what I made:

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup


You will need (serves 4):


300g tin of sweetcorn
200g cooked chicken breast
1200ml hot chicken stock (made from stock cubes - follow the directions on the packet to make it up)
2 tablespoons cornflour
Dash of garlic salt
Dash of chilli powder
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Crushed chillies (optional)

I had been meaning to make chicken and sweetcorn soup for a while, it has always been one of my favourites, but something I had never quite got round to. Then I spotted this recipe on the Good Food website, so I just adjusted the recipe to suit what I had lying around.

Thats the beauty of soup - it's not an exact science, so if you fancy switching out some of the ingredients for something else, you can.

So I made up the chicken stock and plopped in the cooked chicken. With soup like this, I like to use the pre-cooked chicken bits you get in the sandwich fillers aisle at the supermarket. I know it's technically cheating, but boy it makes your life so much easier. No cooking, and it's already in bite sized chunks so it's literally just a case of chucking it in.

Then I took a cupful or so of stock and blended it with the cornflour. Once it was all mixed nicely together, I put the floured stock in with the rest of it.

Then, it's just a case of putting the sweetcorn and seasoning (i.e. the chilli powder and garlic salt) in, and simmering for about 5-10 minutes. If, like me, you like your soup with a bit of a kick, now is the time to add the crushed chillies.

While that's bubbling away, beat the 2 eggs and lemon juice together.

After it's done simmering, gently dribble the egg into the pan while swirling the soup around with a fork, which will make cool egg strands that will make your soup lovely and thick.

And that's it! Chicken and sweetcorn soup. It was definitely what the doctor ordered after my wet, cold and long run. It's so easy, and only takes about 20 minutes to rustle up from beginning to end.

Enjoy!

Calories (per serving): 218
Fat: 6 grams
Saturated Fat: 2 grams