Winter Vegetable Soup & Chicken in Balsamic Vinegar

yippee! i cooked again! (: managed to cook once a week so far. good job! haha but then again, its still the start of the holidays only ;) this is one of the rare times i actually made soup! :D and i think it was really nice hehe xD

Winter Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 leek

300g new potatoes

2 large carrots

2 sweet potatoes

15g butter

1 tbsp olive oil

600ml vegetable stock

1. Slice all vegetables across into rounds about 2.3mm thick.

2. Melt the butter with the oil in a pot and add the leeks. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4minutes, or until soft, stirring frequently. Add hte remaining vegetables and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

3. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 18-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender but not soft.

4. Transfer portions of the vegetables into a blender or food processor with a little of the liquid. Blend to a smooth puree and return to the pot. Repeat until most of the soup is puree, with a few chunks of vegetables (up to you).

Chicken in Balsamic Vinegar

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

200ml rice wine

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

200ml olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

4 tbsp raisins, soaked in boiling water for 10minutes and drained

1 packet of chye sim (washed & cut into smaller pieces)

60g pine nuts, toasted

1. Slice the chicken breasts into about 1cm thick pieces.

2. Fry the chicken breasts lightly in a pan, pour in the wine and stir for about 5min. Take the chicken out, set aside and reserve the cooking liquid,

3. Whisk together the balsamic vinegar and oil, then add the reserved cooking liquid, lemon zest and raisins. Arrange the chicken in a dish, pour the dressing over and chill for 2 hours.

4. In the meantime, boil a pot of water with a little salt, and put the chye sim in. Boil until the stems are soft. Place the vegetables on a serving plate.

5. Bring the chicken back to room temperature and place them on top of the vegetables. Pour the sauce on top and scatter with pine nuts.