With the end of flu season and the beginning of allergy season upon us, nothing sounds sweeter to my ears than a steaming hot bowl of chicken noodle soup. Now, I realize that a steaming bowl of soup doesn't actually make any noise, but for the sake of this post lets just pretend that this bowl of soup sounds like the smoothest of smooth jazz music. And heck, if you don't like jazz, then I really don't know what to tell you other than just make some damn soup already and forget I ever even brought sound into this tasty equation!

Before I share the recipe I should mention that the ingredient list for chicken noodle soup is very flexible. The key things are (of course): chicken, noodles, and some sort of liquid base. A quick google search for "chicken noodle soup" will yield all sorts of different recipes. In my initial search I found that most recipes use chicken stock but I only had chicken broth on hand and decided to use that instead. After some research I learned that the only difference between the two is that stock is made from bones steeped in water, and broth is made from meat/veggies steeped in water. I just winged the rest and tossed in whatever else we had on hand, so if you want to follow a strict recipe, the one that follows will work but keep in mind that you can add and omit ingredients to your liking.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 3 medium carrots
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 small white onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 sprigs thyme
- olive oil to coat pan
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 8 ounces pasta (I used orzo)
- salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Chop all the vegetables to whatever size you desire and set aside. Season the chicken to your liking and cook completely, then chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Coat the bottom of a large stockpot with olive oil and add the vegetables and thyme. Cook and stir until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken broth and bring the liquid to a boil. Add your choice of pasta and simmer until tender. Toss in the chicken and continue to simmer until heated through; season to your liking. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

When I'm cooking I've found it's easiest to prepare all of my ingredients ahead of time, so that I'm not caught off guard with my timing when it comes to actually putting it all together on the stove. So start by chopping all your vegetables. I'm not going to tell you how, because I don't know how big/small you like your vegetable chunks, but this is what everything looked like once I chopped it all up and tossed it into a bowl, for photo-taking sake.

If you must know, I always aim for bite-size chunks when it comes to carrots and celery, but I like my onion chopped slightly finer. The garlic was smashed with a knife and then minced.



Next, I cooked my chicken breasts. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder, but you can season yours however you'd like. Just make sure they're cooked all the way through, then move them to a cutting board and cut into bite-size chunks. Alternatively, you could shred your chicken, if you're into that sort of thing. Personally, I like big chunky pieces of chicken in my soup.



Remember all those vegetables you chopped up? Heat some olive oil in a big pot and toss them all in there. Toss a few sprigs of thyme in with them too, then give everything a nice stir and let the heat slowly soften the vegetables. Depending on how thick you cut your vegetables this could take anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes. You'll know they're soft enough when they have a slight give upon being pressed with a wooden spoon. You don't want to cook them so long that they start to brown.



Add both quarts of chicken broth and let the whole pot come to a boil. If you're anything like me, patience is key at this point. That broth takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to boil... once it finally comes to a boil, add your pasta of choice and let it absorb that delicious chicken flavor.



Remember to give it a nice big stir every once in a while!



After 8 minutes or so (depending on your pasta cook-time) add the chicken and season the soup to your liking. If you want to keep it traditional, salt and pepper are all you really need. If you want to get a little fancy though, you can toss a pinch or two of cinnamon and nutmeg in there, along with the juice from half a lemon. Anne Burrell says these things give the soup a homey, comforting feel. Out of curiosity, I added a small amount of each, but to be honest, I don't know if it really made much of a difference in my soup. There are plenty of other things you could toss in there at this point too; garlic powder and paprika amongst them. It's entirely up to you.



I made my soup an hour ahead of time and the pasta soaked up a good amount of the broth. Personally, I love a chunky soup that's more substance than liquid, but if you want a brothier soup, I'd recommend eating it immediately. The longer it sits the more the pasta will soak up the liquid. Whatever your desired consistency is, this is the end of the recipe, so go enjoy your steaming hot bowl of soup!


Happy eating!