I am of the belief that a change in weather brings an upheaval of people that all find a similar illness. Chicken soup is the old wives tale remedy for the stifled. Let’s make some good ole Chicken Noodle Soup for those that need our support.
This will be a crock pot recipe. Hopefully you have added that great device to your home kitchen tools. I love mine.
I like to start with a whole roasted chicken. I simply buy them at Sam’s Club. They have a very cost effective and delicious rotisserie chicken at under $5 that lures me back over and over. It makes for a great chicken soup. I know you are dying to ask why a cooked chicken? Much of the fat has dripped away during the roasting process and this make it easier for us to prepare a beautiful lower fat chicken stock and have a melt in your mouth meal in a shorter period of time. Plus I love to cut off the roasted chicken wings and munch them before making my stock.
1 rotisserie chicken (but you can use any fresh chicken too)
3 ea carrots (peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces)
3 ea celery stalks (washed and cut into bite sized pieces)
1 cup chopped kale
1 ea large onion (peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 pound egg noodles or a cup of uncooked pearl barley
6 qt water
Place chicken and water into 8 quart crock pot. If you do not have a big crock pot you can use your 10-12 quart stockpot and make this in on the stove recipe. Cook on LOW for about 5 hours. I often let this go the entire day while I am at work.
Remove chicken (debone), discard skin, cut into bite sized pieces and set aside
Add the remaining ingredients except noodles or barley.
Continue to simmer on LOW until veggies are fully cooked and soft to the bite
Cook barley or egg noodles separately according to directions on package
Add chicken pieces back into the soup stock and re-season ( salt and pepper) to taste.
In your soup bowl place a nice portion of cooked noodles or barley and ladle over the soup adding a healthy ratio of chicken and veggies
Serve with your home made bread for a wonderful meal.
This menu item freezes well and stores in sealed, refrigerated container for several days. You can make this ahead of time for an upcoming event.