Chicken Noodle Soup

Recently, a friend of mine had to make a trip to the hospital after a horrible food poisoning case.  It was no fun for her, for sure.  I thought some chicken soup might help once she was back at home and able to eat little by little.

I took some help from Annie’s Eats recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup which she got from Cooks Illustrated.  I definitely didn’t have the time on hand that day to make her recipe in full, so I did take some shortcuts.  Below is the adapted form of her recipe that I made, although I know, if you have the time, making it Annie’s way will produce and healthy rich-tasting soup :)

Ingredients
1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
5 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp. cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
1 cup thinly sliced onion
½ cup celery, cut into ½-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 cup (4 oz.) egg noodles
1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 tsp Cumin

Directions
Put 1 Tbsp olive oil and chicken breast in crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours.  When chicken is cooked through, place chicken in medium bowl and shred chicken with 2 forks.

Fill Dutch oven/large pot on the stove with 5 cups of chicken stock.  Heat over medium-high heat.  In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water; whisk together until a smooth slurry forms.  Stir the mixture into the stock and bring to a gentle boil.  Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook 10-15 minutes.  Add the egg noodles and continue to cook until vegetables are tender and the noodles are cooked, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken and parsley to the soup.  Cook just until heated through, about 2 minutes.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and cumin, and serve.

Potato, Spinach and Tomato Soup

So, last week, I caught some kind of cold. Yuck! I never really like soup, as I mentioned before in my Cheddar Soup with Tortilla Crunchies post. That soup changed my opinion, yes, but I'm still skeptical of soups in general. That said, I could tell my body really needed some fluid, and I was hungry! FYI, I do not keep canned soup in the house.

I did a search on FoodNetwork.com and found this recipe that let me use stuff that I had on hand in the house, which is always helpful. I did quarter this recipe since I was only making this for myself, but the recipe calls for a 28oz. can of tomatoes when making the full recipe. I personally didn't think that 1/4 of that was enough when making my quartered recipe. Thus, I used a 15 oz. can, and I felt that portion was appropriate for this amount.

This is Rachael Ray another soup that helped point me towards liking the idea of soups a little more. Shhh, I had 2 bowls :) This was really delicious!

Cheddar Soup with Tortilla Crunchies

Last week, my sous chef was down for the count with a cold, and he actually had to stay home from work one day because he was lacking that much energy. That's not typical or normal for him. Thus, I felt bad and wanted to make him a terrific soup, but I don't make soups! I had no go-to recipes for soup because I am just not a soup eater. Then I remembered that the only thing I really know as soup is Campbell's. I think that's why I don't know good homemade soup and how wonderful it tastes.

Well, guess where I turned? Well where else have I turned in the past few weeks?!

Haha, yes, of course. So, I had narrowed it down to two soups and thought for sure, if given the choice, my sous chef would choose the soup with chorizo in it. To my surprise, he didn't. He was confident in his decision to select the cheddar soup! "Alright," I said, and I headed off to the grocery store while he snoozed away his cold.

This recipe from the Big Orange Book was delicious! I must say my ailing assistant made a great selection. Look at the delicious peppers and onions in this tasty soup!
Just after the cream and stock are added to the garlic and peppers and the soup begins to simmer! Mmmmm....
Add some chunky salsa, some crunched up blue corn tortilla chips, and dig in! You know you want to :)
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