Chicken Soup:
Good for the Body and the Soul

Some foods are good for the body and the soul. Just thinking about homemade chicken soup conjures up all sorts of good memories.

Feeling a cold coming on? Make mine chicken soup, please, with some noodles. Feeling well? How about a robust soup, with lots of colorful vegetables, chunks of chicken and big noodles?

Is this making you hungry? There’s an easy remedy. Cook up a pot of chicken soup yourself. It’s easy, inexpensive and offers the added benefits of little fat and lots of nutrients.

Start with a flavorful liquid base or find a recipe that sounds good to you and adjust for personal tastes. The more vegetables you add, the more healthy your soup. Add cooked noodles or rice to your soup, but not until it’s time to serve, so they don’t soak up the soup. Double the recipe and freeze the extra for later.

Will it cure a cold? “Maybe not cure,” says Denise Cedar, R.D., C.D.E., registered dietitian at Salem Hospital, “but it can help us feel better. Many of the symptoms that make us miserable when we have a cold are due to our body’s inflammatory response to the cold virus. Some studies have shown the ingredients in homemade chicken soup, especially if it’s made with lots of vegetables, have a mild anti-inflammatory effect and that can make us feel better.”

Home Cooking: Blushing Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves six.

Ingredients
6 cups of homemade chicken broth
2 large carrots, scraped and sliced or diced
1 large stalk of celery, chopped or sliced
1 onion, chopped (approximately 1 cup)
1 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 bunch of parsley
2 cups of cooked chicken, diced (approximately 12 ounces)
1 cup of canned plum tomatoes (about
4 whole tomatoes) coarsely chopped, with liquid
3 cups cooked egg noodles (approximately 2 cups of dry noodles)

Directions
Directions Put all ingredients except noodles into soup pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until carrots are cooked. Put ½ cup of noodles into each bowl. Ladle soup over noodles.

Each 2-cup serving contains about 246 calories, 21 gm protein, 3 gm fat and 29 gm carbohydrate.