Chicken and vegetable soup
Use a whole chicken to make a big batch of family-friendly chicken soup. Treat the recipe as a base and add your choice of veg, or bulk it up with grains
Tip the potatoes into a small saucepan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat , then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-6 mins until just softened. Drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and cook the celery and shallot for 3 mins until softened. Add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 min. Reduce the heat to low and slowly pour in the milk, whisking until you have a thick sauce. Stir in the stock and simmer for 2 mins until the sauce has thickened slightly again.
Tip in the fish, vegetables and cooked potatoes, and simmer for 4-5 mins until the veg has defrosted (if frozen) and the fish is cooked through. When the mixture is creamy and coats the back of a spoon, add the lemon zest and juice and up to 50ml water if the chowder is too thick. Season with black pepper, salt and the parsley.
Pour the chowder into a bowl, top with more black pepper, the extra parsley and serve with crusty bread, if you like.