comfort chicken noodle soup

This recipe for chicken noodle soup warms ever inch of your body and tastes just as delicious as the most unhealthy soup you've ever encountered. I've been sick for what seems like forever and this soup hit the spot...only problem is I should've quadrupled the recipe, as the leftovers are even better than the first time.

Ingredients (for 2 dinner-sized portions or 3-smaller portions of soup adapted from this):

1 lb organic chicken breast

2 tsp olive oil
3 large carrots, diced
5 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup chopped spinach
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
salt & pepper
8 cups chicken broth
2 lemons 

2 cups egg noodles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place chicken on foil, coat with olive oil, salt & pepper. Cook in preheated oven for 40 minutes. 

2. Remove cooked chicken from the oven, transfer to plate and cover with foil.

3. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, slice 1 lemon and lay slices out evenly. Turn heat up to 400F and cook for 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile in a large pot, or a Le Creuset, heat the 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion, carrot, and celery, top with a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Stir and cook for 10 minutes, until vegetables soften.
 

 

5. Add chopped spinach and thyme. Stir to mix. 
 

6.  Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, partially cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

 

7. Meanwhile remove cooked lemons and set aside. Also shred the cooked chicken.
 

 

8.  Once the soup is done simmering, add chicken and the juice of 1/2 of a lemon. Add prepared egg noodles and serve with one slice of roasted lemon on top.

 

 

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perfectly roasted chicken (and what to do with the leftovers)

I was raised in a house full of chicken. We had chicken almost every night, every type of chicken; Chicken Kiev, Teriyaki Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken, Chicken Tenders, Chicken Tetrazzini, Chicken everything. When I began dabbling in cooking, a whole chicken was out of the question, it never even crossed my mind as being possible. One day when I was bored I thought maybe I could tackle the whole chicken, with a back-up plan being possible since I had so much time! Once I decided to go for it, I bought the supplies, returned to the house, was hands-on for 10 minutes and then before I knew it I was DONE. It really was shocking how easy but impressive it was! Now having made over 20 roasted chickens, my newest obstacle to tackle is the timing of the sides...figuring out when to put sides into the oven so they aren't hard and undercooked or crisped to dust. Last night I finally got it!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (3-5lbs)
2 onions
6 carrots
3 potatoes
1 lemon
5 cloves of garlic
Salt, pepper, and herbs of choice (I used herbs de provence)
Olive oil for drizzling 

Directions:
 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 2. Remove giblets from cavity of chicken. Pat dry to ensure crispiness of chicken. Stand chicken up to drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs and spices of choice (herbs de provence, cayenne pepper, oregano, rosemary, basil, anything!), and lemon juice from 1 lemon into chicken. Also put in lemon rind from juiced lemon, 5 cloves of garlic (no need to peel), and 1 onion chopped roughly. 

3. Lay down on roasting pan, tuck wings under to provide even roasting, and tie legs together with cooking twine. Rub olive oil over top of chicken. Top with herbs and spices of choice. Salt and pepper.

4. Pop chicken into the preheated oven. Set timer for 30 minutes. (Set timer for 1 hour and 10 minutes if just making chicken or not these sides)

5. Once 30 minutes is up, wash potatoes and add to the oven. Set timer for 20 minutes.

6. Once 20 minutes has passed, add carrots and chopped onions to roasting pan with chicken. Set timer for 20 more minutes.

7. When timer is finished, remove chicken and place on a plate. Cover chicken with tin foil for 10 minutes to have chicken reabsorb liquids. Keep veggies in oven during this time.

8. Cut chicken and enjoy!

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What to do with the leftovers: Chicken noodle soup (of course)!

 1. Remove chicken from bones and set aside. In a large soup pot, bring 4 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups of water to a simmer. Place chicken carcass and bones into liquid, lower and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes to release taste of chicken into stock.

2. Strain liquids and reserve in a bowl.

3. Return pot to medium heat with a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Chop up some vegetables of choice (onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, etc!) and add to oil. Add salt, pepper, and thyme.

 4. When vegetables soften (about 7 minutes but time varies depending on cut-size), add chicken, and broth. Cook together for a few minutes to mix flavors. Package up and let it cool off before popping it in the fridge.

5. Boil up some egg noodles for about 3 minutes until softened but mildly al dente. Package and again wait to cool before popping in the fridge.

To heat up, simply dump liquid and noodles into a covered pot over medium heat. Heat up and serve a warm, filling, and super-filling dinner or lunch for the next day!

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