Left over chicken... what to do what to do???

Today started out with the loss of our power at somewhere around 3:30 am... it didn't come back on till almost 10am. It was dreary. It was cold. It was wet. I wanted something warm & comfy for lunch.

Well, I didn't start out thinking stew, I was thinking chicken soup. But as I started putting it together I wanted something thicker than a soup - sort of like a chowder. I also wanted to use most of what I'd just cut off the asparagus that I was going to roast to go along with dinner - you know, that part you trim off the bottom 2 inches to get that nice consistent green color?

You'll need the following:

2c. cooked chicken meat, roughly chopped
2c. milk (fat free but you can use whatever you have on hand)
6 small (palm sized) russet potatoes, peeled & diced
3 medium carrots, peeled & diced
2" cut off the bottom of some asparagus, sliced in 1/4" thick slices
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cans chicken broth
Olive oil, salt, pepper and either corn starch or flour as a thickening agent
Fresh herbs for garnish

In a stock pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Meanwhile, in a saute pan, place the cut up asparagus stems, the onion some olive oil and salt & pepper. Saute until the onions and asparagus start to brown.

Add some water to further cook the asparagus - you want it JUST tender but still crunchy. Should only take a few ounces of water.

When the water cooks down and the asparagus are just getting tender, remove from heat & set aside.

By now the chicken broth should be boiling nicely. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook, boiling, for around 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. I recommend covering it so you don't lose too much of the liquid during the cooking process.

Once the potatoes & carrots are done, add the chicken along with the asparagus and onion mixture.

Add the milk - reserve a small amount of milk and add a couple small scoops of flour or cornstarch to it.

Mix the milk & flour/cornstarch till it's all dissolved and add to the pan. Stir until all incorporated. This will give your soup a nice thickness and it'll be more chowder-like.

Once I served this into bowls, I garnished with some fresh parsley and chives. It was YUM! But even  more than my own like of it, was the fact that LD at his whole bowl - he's my toughest critic!

Enjoy!