Chicken Noodle Soup

Comforting, warm, with a kick of pepper to clear your head. It is cold and flu season. Therefore, it is chicken noodle soup season!


CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

• 1 lb chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
• Chicken broth (about 3 cans, plus extra water if you need more soup in your soup)
• Egg noodles (1/2 bag or so)
• Onion (1 large, chopped up)
• Garlic (I don't know, a couple cloves? I used about 1 tsp of the jarred stuff)
• Celery (3-4 stalks, chopped up)
• Carrots (whatever floats your boat, chopped up)
• Seasonings – salt, black pepper, bay leaf, thyme

Get a nice sturdy soup pot, and place it over medium heat. Heat a tablespoon of oil, or melt a pat of butter - either way. Cook your chicken bits until done, and set them aside. Add a little more oil or butter to the pot, and toss in the veggies. Sautee them until they start to soften - about 6-8 minutes.

Pour in the chicken broth - you can eyeball this part. You may only need 2 cans. You may want more. I used about 3 cans of broth, and probably added in another 1 1/2 - 2 cans worth of water. This soup is best with LOTS of liquid. Just so you know. While you're stirring the liquid around, scrape any chicken and veggie bits from the bottom of the pan. That's valuable flavor, there.

Add a bay leaf to the pot, and bring it to a boil. Cook at a nice low boil until the carrots and celery are as tender as you'd like. Add the noodles, and simmer for another 5 minutes, uncovered, until tender. Then stir in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through. Season to taste with salt, plenty of black pepper (don't skimp), and a hint of thyme (a little goes a long way!) Remove the bay leaf before serving.

This made a big pot of soup, and I figured I'd freeze what we didn't eat. Except we ate it ALL. And now I can breathe again!