Recipe Share: Chicken Noodle Soup

So, my family has all been under the weather lately. It's been no fun at all. The only thing that sounded good for dinner yesterday was this: Tyler Florence's Chicken Noodle Soup. It was heaven sent. I even got Jason to eat it!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 medium carrots, cut diagonaly into 1/2 inch thick slices

3 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf (I used dried, since I didn't have fresh)

2 quarts (8 cups) chicken stock (I used Rachael Ray's store bought chicken stock -- it was YUMMO, as Rachael would say)

8 ounces dried wide egg noodles

1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 handful fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Directions:

If you don't already have shredded cooked chicken on hand, I either cook some boneless skinless breasts on low in the crockpot with some salt and pepper and chicken broth 'til they're done. Or, what I did yesterday was I preheated my oven to 350 degrees, placed 4 bone in chicken breasts on a cookie sheet, drizzled olive oil on top of them and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Baked for an hour. (It may take as little as 40 minutes to bake chicken at this temp, but because mine were large breasts it took longer.) Shredded the chicken and discarded the skin and bones. It was really yummy. (And I have enough leftover chicken to use for a different recipe tonight.)

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 the chicken stock in and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5-7 minutes or 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. (Be sure to remove the thyme stems, too.)

I like to serve this with Rhodes dinner rolls or crusty bread. Enjoy! Seriously, go make this tonight! It will warm you up and bring joy to your soul. The veggies turn out perfectly cooked, and the noodles soak up all that yummy stock. It's wonderful. I ate it for lunch, dinner, and breakfast today!

If you want to print out the recipe from food network's site, go here. (I use more carrot and celery than Tyler's recipe calls for. I just love my veggies!)