We had an abundance of pipian (aka cousa) squash, so we tried this soup: https://web.archive.org/web/20170709080152/http://myhalalkitchen.com/hearty-chicken-zucchini-soup/
Our modifications: 3 pipian squash in lieu of zucchini; two boneless, skinless chicken breasts with one chicken neck (to add depth to the chicken stock); increased garlic cloves to 8; added 6 oz fresh spinach (not frozen) during the last 3 mins of simmering (not 15 mins, which would have overcooked the spinach); and added a dash of marash pepper at the end. Rather than dicing the cooked chicken breasts, we fork-shredded them. We also omitted the cheese. (June 2017)
Note: At the end of cooking, if the soup tastes underseasoned, we sometimes add a dash of garlic powder and/or Korean beef soup seasoning (sogogi dashida).
Note 2: Another time, we used 8 cups homemade chicken broth from 1 boneless chicken breast, chicken fat and skin from 5 thighs (without the thigh meat), 2 stalks celery (cut into 2” pieces), 1 large carrot (cut into 2” pieces), 1 medium onion (peeled and halved), 2 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, a few sprigs whole parsley (about 1/4 cup), 1 tsp kosher salt, and 8 cups water. It took about 20 mins to get to full pressure and another 10 mins maintained at that pressure. Following natural release, we shredded the chicken breast, measured out the broth (it was nearly 8 cups), and discarded the remaining solids. Even after making our own broth, we added 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon chicken concentrate for depth. Also, because we already had garlic in our homemade broth, for the zucchini we added only 4 small cloves garlic (minced) along with zucchini. (Jan. 2026)
Cooking Adventures 