Mitchell's Soup - Apricot Butter Chicken

When you buy something from us, you're also buying a piece of what we believe in, too—dinner isn't just about it eating, it’s about sharing a meal, stories and a smile with the people you love. And that’s exactly what all of us at Mitchell’s Soup Co. care about the most—creating a genuine and memorable food experience with modern flair for our customers each time they make one of our recipes.

I fully acknowledge this food post is not a regular recipe to try, but it's about cooking, so decided it still fit the bill. How many times have you been at a Farmer's Market or Country Style Store and come across prepackaged dry mixes for soups, chilis and salads?  I have bought them as gifts, but honestly never made one myself.

Stock image

On my recent trip to Toronto, I visited the Evergreen Brickworks where my first stop was in the Evergreen Garden Market. I love shopping in this type of market. I walked away with several dry mixes, a jar of curry sauce and more. In the end, most was again given away as usual, but I did save one for myself - a package of Mitchell's Soup Co.'s Apricot Butter Chicken. 

After years of cooking, you start to get a feel for how good something might turn out. While reading the instructions, I knew right away this had potential.  Best of all - you could mix it all together and just pop it in the oven. An hour later you pull it out and stir in the final ingredient. I need more easy, but quality cooking like this in my life. My husband doesn't like spicy, but while this has a definite curry element - he had to agree it wasn't "hot."

Here is how simple it is to make. Prepare large oven casserole dish. Add package mix. Add 4 cups water, 3 cups raw diced chicken breast (they say 1-2 cups but it really needs more), 1 cup frozen peas and 1 cup diced mango or apple (I had apple so used that).  In addition I added a small package of diced onion/celery/carrots mix from the grocery store - about 1 cup total - and some sliced mushrooms that needed using up. That's it. Bake for 1 hour, take out of oven and stir in 3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream. I ended up adding a little more - about 1 cup of Greek Yogurt. How easy is that???

In closing, I want to add a few notes about Mitchell's Soup Co. It is a family owned business in Cowichan Valley, B.C., that all started all started around Y2K when the owner's mother began stocking up on dried beans and legumes just in case something happened. After the date passed uneventfully - she was left with a large stock of these ingredients and began packaging them in tubes to sell at farmer's markets. The rest is history. 

Everything is made in house in small batches from quality ingredients and recipes are triple tested. Offerings include soups, chilis, dahl, rice dishes, ancient grain salads and dessert. For more information or to peruse the Mitchell's Soup Co. online store go to - http://www.mitchellssoupco.ca/