Sick Days & Chicken Noodle Soup!

Oscar, laying in bed

Some days you just don't want to get out of bed. This was the case a couple of weeks ago in my house as my husband came down with a bad round of sickness, and the very same week, our beloved dachshund, Oscar, came down with a fatty tumor that had to be removed surgically. There was nothing to do but make chicken noodle soup.

Lucky for us, the fatty tumor was extracted without too much fuss, and eventually my husband's cold subsided, too. But it was a reminder: it's fall and it's coming on cold and flu season. Every household needs a good chicken soup recipe for this season, if you ask me. And actually, it's not all hype. Eating chicken noodle soup when you have a cold helps to loosen up those sinuses, and it feels just so good going down.

This isn't a hard recipe, but it is my own, and I think it tastes (as Julia Child would say) very "chicken-y." It's a big step up from my chicken soup of yore. Once upon a time, in high school, I had a boyfriend who was very sick. He was complaining of a fever, sore throat, the works. So, as any dutiful girlfriend would do, I made him chicken soup. The only problem was that I was, at the time, a very inexperienced cook. The chicken soup was flavorless and just downright awful. After consuming an entire bowl, he admitted to me that it was, in fact, awful. I felt terrible about the soup and it has haunted me ever since.



You will need: 

4 chicken thighs, boned & cut up (if you prefer white meat, go for it, but I like dark meat!)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
celery heart and a couple of stalk, chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn, frozen or fresh (I used frozen b/c the season for corn was the pits)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
several fresh basil leaves
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
2 cups egg noodles
small palmful of salt (or to taste)
pepper to taste

Method: 

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink (about 8-12 minutes).

When the chicken in cooked, add the garlic, celery, carrots, and onion. Stir and cook for several minutes until onions are getting translucent and the veggies are getting tender.

Add the corn, stock, broth, water, basil parsley, salt and pepper to the pot and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer until you are nearly ready to serve. (this is great because you can let it simmer and stew while you attend to your sicklings!)

15-20 minutes before you are ready to serve the soup, add the egg noodles and cook for time specified on the package. Salt and pepper to taste and serve to your ranks!

YUM! Chicken noodle soup makes everything all better!