Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Canned chicken noodle soup is about to become a thing of your past. This straightforward version is all about making (and keeping) it real: big chunks of chicken, wide noodles, plenty of carrots and celery. For the broth, go for the kind sold in boxes, and choose a good-quality brand, preferably organic. To make this soup even easier, you can replace the chicken breasts with some leftover rotisserie chicken or other cooked

chicken meat. Just shred enough to make about 2 cups and add it to the soup along with the noodles.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red or yellow onion, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

2 medium carrots, sliced ¼-inch thick

2 stalks celery, sliced ¼-inch thick

8 cups (2 quarts) chicken broth

2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts

¼ pound wide egg noodles

Freshly ground black pepper

A handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Place a soup pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat. After about a minute, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the onion and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion softens.

2. Add the carrots and celery and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.

3. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken breasts and turn the heat all the way down to the lowest possible setting. Cover and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. (You can check by cutting into the meat with a sharp knife.) Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken from the broth. Put it on a plate and let it rest for about 5 minutes, or until it is cool enough to handle comfortably.

4. Meanwhile, using a large spoon, skim off and discard any foamy residue that might have shown up on the surface of the soup. Bring the soup back to a gentle boil over high heat, and add the noodles, stirring to keep them from sticking together. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the noodles are tender.

5. While the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken (use two forks, a small knife, or your fingers) into bite-sized pieces.

6. When the noodles are tender, add the shredded chicken to the soup and season to taste with a few grinds of black pepper. Serve hot, topped with a sprinkling of parsley.

GET CREATIVE

For a nostalgia-laced simple dinner, pair this soup with a green salad dressed with Homemade Ranch Dressing (Chapter 2: Salads), and garnish the salad with very sweet cherry tomatoes.

Squeeze some fresh lime juice into the soup just before serving, or serve with wedges of lime on the side for people to add at the table. To take the soup in a Latin direction, in addition to adding lime juice, you can garnish each serving with chopped cilantro plus some crispy tortilla strips (or crumbled tortilla chips) and a dollop of your favorite salsa. Love matzo ball soup? Buy a package of matzo meal, follow the directions for making matzo balls (you can even make them a day or two ahead of time), and add them to the soup instead of the noodles.