Chicken Noodle Soup- Comfort Food for the Soul

As a kid, I always ate Campbell's Chicken and Stars condensed soup from a can. The older I got, the more refined my tastebuds grew! I switched to Progresso canned soup when in a pinch. As an adult on my own, I found this fantastic recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup. Making your own stock makes the world of difference! I make this soup often, even more in the winter, and I absolutely love it! My husband, who doesn't find chicken noodle soup to be the kind of comfort food I do, swears by this soup as the "Million Dollar Chicken Noodle Soup".

If you plan to make your own stock, use the recipe included with the lentil sausage soup on my last post. It's fanatastic and store bought chicken broth cannot even compare!

If you do use store bought chicken broth, I recommend using Swanson's Organic Low-Sodium chicken broth, making sure to season with salt and pepper at the end so you don't over salt your soup.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped medium
  
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 3 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts chicken stock, recipe follows
• 8 ounces dried wide egg noodles
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.