My Favorite Chicken Noodle Soup

Thankfully, most of the time my children are fairly healthy little humans. Today, however, I had to bring one of them to the doctors to be tested for the flu. Gratefully, the test was negative...phew.

On the way home from the doctors, I decided to make my favorite Chicken Noodle Soup recipe. This recipe has comforted my family in both sicknesses and health.

My secret ingredient is the leeks! I accidentally made this soup about ten years ago, when I realized that I only had leeks in my fridge; no onions. That mistake was the best thing that could have ever happened to this recipe...I hope you like it as much as we do.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp of butter
Olive Oil, or EVOO
1 whole chicken
1 leek, sliced
1 bunch of celery, sliced or chopped
1 bag of baby carrots, cut in half or thirds
LOTS of Sea Salt
Pepper
Pasta (optional-I use gluten free)
Coriander, or other spices (optional)

Generously swirl the bottom of a giant pot or Dutch oven with Olive Oil.
Add the butter and melt.
Add the chopped vegetables, and a generous amount of Sea Salt (I do about 15+ turns on my salt grinder) and saute on medium high for about 8-12 minutes...make sure the leeks and celery look slightly translucent.

Add the entire chicken to the sauteed vegetables, then fill the pot with water until the chicken is covered, or almost covered.

Bring to a boil, and allow soup to boil (in between a simmer and a rapid boil) for about 2 hours.

Take out the chicken and place it into a pan with sides (so the juices don’t spill all over).

Reduce the soup to a simmer, keep simmering while you prep the meat.

Slice apart the chicken in a few places, and let it cool for around 20 minutes, until it is cool enough to handle.

After the chicken is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones. Break apart the meat into desired bite size pieces and add the chicken meat back to the soup.

Taste and re-salt. Add pepper (and any other spices you enjoy such as Coriander).

Let simmer until the carrots are a desired texture. You can add any pasta you would like, now.
Boil the pasta for the required amount of time… and your done!

*If you are going to use gluten free pasta, cook the noodles separately, and add the cooked noodles to the soup for best results.*

I like to let the soup cool for awhile, and then do a final salting, if needed.

Enjoy!!!

Stay healthy, everyone,

Jenn