Cold-Fighting Chicken-Noodle Soup

Chciken Noodle Soup helps keep the cold at bay!

When our family is fighting off colds, we make this soup—it helps those who have colds feel better—and I’m not saying this is a cure for the common cold—but somehow, the remainder of the family stays healthy. The chicken soup remedy is a common one, but we add garlic, which also has cold-fighting properties, and chili, which definitely clears out the sinuses.

Garlic Chicken- Noodle Soup

2 quarts of Chicken Stock (see below) or chicken broth

1½ cups diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

2 cloves garlic, minced (or more if desired)

2½ cups wide egg noodles

2 cups shredded (leftover) cooked chicken

Soy sauce to taste

Sliced green onions (opt.)

1-2 teaspoons Chili-Garlic Sauce (or to taste, spiciness varies by brand)

Bring the chicken stock to a steady simmer in a large soup pot. Add the diced carrots, celery and garlic and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the noodles and chicken and cook until noodles are almost tender. (Times vary by brand—one package cooks in 7 minutes, but the type I like takes over 20 minutes—in that case add it earlier so the vegetables aren’t overcooked.) Before serving, add a little soy sauce to taste and stir in some chili-garlic sauce. Sprinkle with chopped green onions if desired. Place a container of chili-garlic sauce on the table so diners may add more according to their taste. Soup should be pleasantly spicy.

Chicken Stock with Garlic

I usually make some chicken stock with the carcass left from a roasted chicken. I try to remove all the good meat that I can from the bones and put the meat into a container to refrigerate. Place the chicken carcass into a pot with a sliced onion, 3-4 whole garlic cloves, 6 peppercorns, one large carrot, peeled and cut into two-inch chunks, 2 teaspoons salt and a bay leaf. I add cold water to barely cover (about 2 quarts) and bring it to a slow simmer and cook over very low heat over night. (Use a simmer plate if your stove won’t keep it at a low simmer and there is risk of it boiling dry—or merely cook during the day and keep your eye on it.)