Slow-Cooker Lemony Chicken Soup

This lemony, herbal take on chicken soup highlights produce, but the basic technique is useful any time you want chicken soup with minimum effort. Slow-cooking chicken in stock creates a richly flavored, double-concentrated stock. Homemade stock is ideal, but you can also use your favorite store-bought stock. Stock concentrate paste like Better Than Bouillon is particularly good because it is natural-tasting, cost-effective and keeps in the fridge for a very long time. (Check the jar for how to reconstitute the paste. For this soup, no need to use boiling water; tap water works fine.) This recipe is flexible: If peas and asparagus aren’t available, substitute two cups of quick-cooking vegetables, like fresh or frozen corn, baby spinach or arugula, or thinly sliced zucchini. Instead of tortellini, you can add an equivalent amount of cooked pasta or grains.

Ingredients

• 6

  cups chicken stock or broth

• 1 ¼

  pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

• 2

  leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise then thinly sliced crosswise (about 2 cups)

• 2

  carrots, sliced about 1/2-inch thick

• 2

  celery stalks, sliced about 1/2-inch thick

• 4

  garlic cloves, minced

• ½

  teaspoon red-pepper flakes

• ½

  teaspoon onion powder

• Kosher salt and black pepper

• 1

  lemon, juiced (2 to 3 tablespoons)

• 1

  cup sliced asparagus (about 12 ounces, trimmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick)

• 1

  cup fresh or frozen peas

• 9

  ounces refrigerated spinach-cheese tortellini (optional; see Tip)

• ½

  cup chopped soft fresh herbs, such as dill, mint, tarragon, parsley, chives or a mixture

Preparation

1. In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine the stock, chicken, leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, red-pepper flakes, onion powder and several generous grinds of black pepper. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt if using salted stock, 1 teaspoon kosher salt if using low-sodium stock, or 2 teaspoons kosher salt if using unsalted stock. Cover and cook on low until the chicken and vegetables are very tender, about 7 hours.
2. Increase the heat to high. Using two forks, tear apart the chicken into bite-size pieces. Add the lemon juice, asparagus, peas and tortellini, if using, to the soup. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender to crisp-tender, and the tortellini is cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the herbs; season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls to serve.