Feeling under the weather? Perhaps you just need some good, old-fashioned rest and a comforting bowl of warm soup!
My Great-Grandmother always had the best remedies for illness. My Mom often mentions the warm drink she would make when she realized you might be catching a cold. I can’t remember what exactly was in it, but it was warm and given with love. I guess that’s all that really matters!
We like to keep soup in the freezer during the winter months. On a cold day, especially if you are sick, there just doesn’t seem to me much that feels any better than this:
Chicken Noodle Soup
(From Celebrate the Seasons)
- 4 lb. chicken (you really should use a whole chicken for this…the flavor comes from cooking down the chicken with the bones)
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1t salt
- 1/4t dried tarragon
- 4 c water
- 3 c chicken broth
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4t dried parsley
- 4 oz egg noodles, uncooked (or pretty much any noodles you have on hand)
Combine chicken and next seven ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes or until chicken easily pulls away from the bone. With a colander, strain the broth into a large container and discard vegetables. Remove skin and bones from chicken, chop chicken meat and set aside. Skim fat from broth, and return broth to the pot. (If you can manage to prepare this the day before, you can place the broth in the fridge overnight and the fat will congeal on top…it makes it much easier to skim all the fat.)
Add remaining uncooked vegetables, salt, pepper and parsley to broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add noodles and bring to a boil. cook 8 to 10 minutes or according to package instructions. Add cooked chicken and simmer the soup another 5 minutes.
This would be such a great recipe to take to a friend who is feeling sickly!
Throw in a favorite magazine, a box of tissue, a few nice tea bags, and a sleeve of crackers and you have a thoughtful gift!
