Pressure Cooker Chicken and Veggy Soup

Originally posted May 2009 on my Facebook:

Went crazy today at the grocery store over the beautiful fresh produce. And still spent less than $15! Anyway I used my trusty pressure cooker and was thankful it didn't take off into space even though I totally stuffed it passed the "do not exceed this mark" line in the pot... I know someone is shaking his head as he is reading this so I'll pretend not to notice.

I used these veggies but you can totally add other ones like bell peppers, cauliflowers, mushrooms etc. And you can use other types of meats.

Veggies:
1 eggplant
1-2 red skinned potato
1-2 zucchini
4-5 stalks celery
1 carrot
1 onion
1 ear of fresh corn, raw
5-6 (lots and lots) of garlic
5-6 ripe tomatoes (I used half vine ripened and half beefsteak) or 1 can whole stewed tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 beef/chicken bullion cube (or just a cup of chicken or beef stock. Omit the water mentioned below!)
1 tbsp dried basil or some type of italian or french herb mix that you like
1 cup hot water

2 pieces of whole chicken breast (I did bone in breasts which I cut off and then tossed in the bones to add gelatin to the soup)

Cut eggplant in half length wise. Rub salt on it and place face down on paper towel to drain out bitterness for few minutes. Chop int 1 inch pieces. Chop all veggies into 1 inch pieces. Mince the garlic. Quarter the tomatoes. Brown every thing. I did onions with garlic separately from the other veggies. Add the veggies to the pressure cooker. Shave the raw corn into the pot. Brown the whole chicken breasts. Add to the cooker. Add the fresh tomatoes, bullion cube, herbs/spices and water (no need to stir, will mix together when pressurized).

Close pressure cooker and bring to pressure on high until gauge rocks. Let gauge rock for 8 minutes. Cook in sink, depressurize, open and stir. At this point if you could not fit in other veggies (I had 4 more tomatoes to add), I added them and returned the pot to the stove. Close pressure lid and cook on high until pressure gauge begins to rock. Take off and cool.

Fish out the whole chicken breasts and cut them into bite size pieces or shred them. Add them back to the soup. The soup should be naturally creamy from the half melted potatoes and the melted eggplants.
If you want it to be more of a chowder, add 1/2 cup of half and half or evaporated condensed milk. But I like mine natural.

For the vegetarian version just cook the veggies with 2 cups of veggie stock and then toss in tofu or maybe some vegetarian sausages.

Don't be tempted to add more than 1 cup of water since the veggies will release their water under pressure and contribute moisture.

Enjoy!