Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Is there anything better than a steamy, salty bowl of chicken noodle soup when you’re feeling sick?  The heat of the broth soothes throats and clears sinuses while the bits of chicken and noodles fills uneasy tummies.  Soup keeps you hydrated and gets you started on the right track towards building up your immune system with vitamins and antioxidants from the veggies.  It is also a great healthy lunch paired with a sandwich or sent to school in a thermos.

This soup is really easy to make if you have chicken meat and broth on hand, but even if you don’t it isn’t too labor intensive.  For the best flavor: buy a chicken the day before you want to make soup, that night salt it and roast it in a 400°F oven for 1 hour.  Remove the meat and refrigerate.  Simmer your chicken carcass, covered in water, in the crock pot overnight.  In the morning, strain the broth and get the last bits of chicken meat off your carcass and refrigerate both. Now you are ready to chop up the veggies and heat up the soup whenever you want it.

Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup

• 2 quarts chicken broth, homemade or best quality
• 2 cups cooked chicken meat
• 4 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp chicken base
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped celery leaves
• 1 tsp fresh chopped tarragon (optional)
• 6 oz egg noodles
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Heat chicken broth to a boil.  Add chicken and vegetables.
2. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until carrots are soft.
3. Add chicken base, herbs, and noodles.
4. Cook ten minutes more or until noodles are soft.
5. Salt and pepper to taste-you may not need any additional salt.

You can make the soup ahead of time and freeze it but you’ll want to leave out the noodles (and add them in when you serve it) or only partially cook them so they don’t get too mushy when reheated.  You can also make this soup with assorted bone-in chicken parts rather than a whole chicken, such as chicken leg quarters or bone-in breasts.