You can starve a cold or choose to feed a cold with this easy to prepare chicken soup. It would be wise to keep most of the ingredients ready and at your fingertips or in your pantry. You never know when a cold will sneak up on you. Of course, if you travel, you can almost count on being exposed to something from all that recirculating air in airplanes! You know, the air that's been recirculating since the 80's! And, there's a reason why the grocery stores have hand wipes now as you enter the store!
My hubby brought home the gift that keeps giving in the form of a cold. I vowed (refused) to catch it as I pushed him away most of the week. He'd just laugh and say, "You know you'll probably get this, anyway". So, as I felt a little sorry for him as he sneezed and sniffled, I went into the kitchen to make some chicken soup. Isn't that what mothers wives do for their family? I have a confession to make, though. I used to just open a can and heat that soup up! Sodium city, anyone? No longer, because it's so easy to make.
Ingredients:
3 chicken thighs, skin and bone removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped (or more is better)
1/2 onion, chopped or sliced
3 carrots, sliced
1 handful of chopped fresh parsley
3 leeks, cleaned and sliced (the bottom white part)
1 container or 32 oz. of chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup rotini pasta
First I browned the thighs in oil, removed them from the pan and cut them up. In the same pan, I added the onion, leeks, carrots and cooked until onions were soft. Add the garlic and parsley. Then add the chicken, broth and water, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 35-40 minutes or longer. Add the rotini or pasta of your choice the last 12 minutes. Serve and watch those cold symptoms subside (temporarily anyway) And, by the way, as I cross my fingers, I never caught that cold! Hooray. Must have been this wonderful soup!
This was a side dish I prepared for our good friends and traveling buddies. We were invited to spend a lovely evening at at their home Saturday. I've always been taught to never arrive without a bottle of wine or at least to make a contribution to the meal. It was suggested I bring something to go with steak. What goes well with steak without being filling or fattening? I steered away from potatoes or orzo and decided on a new recipe for glazed carrots, hoping it would turn out. (not a good time to experiment, but these friends are like family and you can test recipes on family, right?)
The inspiration came from Williams Sonoma and it's a side dish I'll make again. I followed the recipe to the letter which is pretty hard for me to do. I like to "shake it up" most of the time. Carrots are difficult to mess up and these were no exception. Simple and delicious with just enough flavor so as not to distract from their scrumptious barbecued steaks. Yum...Thanks P & C for a nice time with friends!
Ingredients:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
about 2 lbs of carrots, sliced into "sticks" You could probably use baby carrots, too.
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Madeira wine (or dry sherry)
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the carrots, coating well with the butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the Madeira wine and broth. Increase the heat to med-high and bring to a simmer. Loosely cover the pan and simmer until the carrots are tender. About 8 minutes.
Uncover the pan, add the sugar and continue to stir, occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the carrots are glazed. About 6-7 minutes more. Place in a baking/serving dish and either serve immediately with parsley topping or transport them, covered. Microwave at your destination for 3 minutes until warmed through.
