Chicken Soup for the Soul

I live on good soup,

not on fine words.

Moliere-French playwright, director, actor

1622-1673

"Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor and sick, do you?"
Judith Martin (Miss Manners)

Each time I make chicken soup it makes me think of Maurice Sendak's little book Chicken Soup with Rice. The tiny volume was first published in 1962. The book has 12 rhymes and illustrations for 12 months of the year all with chicken soup as the universal theme. The rhythmic verses and repetition make the book perfect for ages 4-6. Each page ends...Happy once, happy twice, happy chicken soup with rice. 

Taste of Home's new magazine Heartwarming Soups was one of my happy weekend purchases. There were several modifications I made to Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup. With over 150 recipes in this publication to consider trying my family will be kept busy being taste testers.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped carrots
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 small roasted Rotisserie chicken from the deli-shred meat with two forks
• 3 TB. olive oil
• 1TB. prepared garlic or 2 garlic cloves finely minced
• 1/3-cup flour
• ½ tsp. dried oregano
• ¼ tsp. dried thyme
• ½ tsp. provence de herbes
• 2 TB. dried parsley flakes
• 6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth or 32 oz. container of chicken broth
• 4 medium sized red potatoes peeled bring to a boil and cook about 15 minutes drain and dice them
• 2 cups cooked wide egg noodles
• 1 cup evaporated fat free milk (in baking aisle)

Directions:

• In a large soup pot sauté onion, celery and carrots in the olive oil about 8 minutes
• Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer
• Remove from heat briefly and whisk in flour and spices
• Return pot to stove on medium heat adding broth whisking to blend well bring mixture slowly to boil
• Then reduce heat to low and simmer covered about 15 minutes
• Add diced cooked potatoes, shredded chicken and cooked noodles
• Stir in milk and simmer on low covered about 20 minutes do not let mixture boil

Note: Soup will thicken as it sits due to potatoes and noodles absorbing the liquid –to thin add equal parts of chicken broth, water and canned milk to soup