Molly Cookie

Make-your-husband-better Chicken Noodle Soup and how to chop an onion

Oct 20, 2009 Chicken, Food Things, Healthy, Soups, Tips and Tricks, Yummy

Yesterday Brian woke up with a sore throat and told me that he just knew he was getting sick. After I thought about the extremely busy week ahead, had an internal and extremely brief panic attack, and quickly calmed down, I thought about what I could do to make him feel better. Our kitchen is filled with leftover football food and ice cream, not exactly immune-boosting types of food. I thought I should probably make him something soothing and healthy, and of course the first thing that came to mind was chicken noodle soup.

I had never made chicken noodle soup before, but I was determined. I browsed through some recipes online, called my mom, and came up with what sounded like a good compilation of the advice that I received. I stuck closely to Bon Appetit’s Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup with a few changes. I left out the mushrooms, added extra pasta and vegetables, and cooked the chicken a little longer than they suggested. It all worked great and we ended up with a recipe that we both really liked and I think made Brian feel a little bit better.

So here is what I did.

Make-your-husband-better Chicken Noodle Soup

• 128 ounces low-salt chicken broth
• 4 lbs chicken pieces (breasts and thighs)

• 1 medium chopped onion
• 3 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced

• 12 ounces dried wide egg noodles
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper

Start with the chicken broth and chicken pieces in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until chicken is cooked all the way though. This will take about 30 minutes. Next, turn off the heat and remove the chicken from the broth. As you let the chicken cool, remove the fat from the top of the broth and cut your vegetables.

For those of you who want to know a really easy way to chop an onion, here is how you do it. cut the end off of an onion and peel it. Next, cut slits crosswise down the onion to make a grid, like this:

Next you simply turn and slice the onion perpendicular to the cuts you just made. You end up with a fabulously chopped onion.

Please ignore my crazy death-grip on this onion.

Don’t forget to also cut your carrots and celery.

After your vegetables are chopped and your chicken has cooled enough for you to handle it, remove the bones and skin from the chicken pieces and cut the chicken into cubes.

Return the broth to a simmer on medium heat and add your carrots, celery, and onion. Cook this until the vegetables begin to be tender, about 10 minutes. Next, you will add the noodles, chicken, and chopped parsley and cook until the noodles are soft, about 8 minutes. Add salt and pepper, stir, and you’re done! Serve to a sore-throated husband alongside crackers or a soft roll and you will be loved forever.