Chicken "Noodle" Soup

Cough...Sniff...Ach-OOO... Yep, the flu that has been going around at work has finally caught up with us. When Adrienne texted me yesterday to say she wasn't feeling well, I was already feeling kinda funky myself. After I got off work, I knew what I had to do. I threw a chicken, some celery, carrots and kale into my shopping basket and headed home. I swirled together a quick chicken stock in one pot, sauteed my veg in another, and in about an hour and a half I had a big steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup ready to eat.

We've replaced most of our white flour pasta reserves with whole wheat pasta. For awhile now I've been getting pasta from Litteri's and this past weekend we drove over to their market with one goal in mind: a couple of their hot and simple meatball subs. We came home with subs, yes, but we also ended up with a big box of goodies including more pasta, wine, cheese, canned tomatoes, anchovy paste, a squeeze bottle of roasted yellow pepper finishing sauce, and more. Definitely check this place out if you're in DC, but beware... you could go as crazy as we did!

Anyway, so, when I was rummaging around in the pantry, I came across these whole wheat pasta shells to use in the soup instead typical noodles. I like shells because they give the soup a satisfying toothy bite plus they're small enough to spoon in one bite with less slurping than traditional noodles.

The upside is that whole wheat pasta is better for you; the downside is that the pasta tends to break up after soaking in the broth for awhile. You could certainly cook the pasta separately and add it to individual bowls to keep it intact, but I just let the pasta do what it was going to do.

There's nothing better than a big steaming bowl of brothy soup on a cold day to warm you down to your toes. And if you're feeling a little under the weather, this traditional chicken soup with a little noodle twist is bound to soothe your aching throat.

Now where'd I put that big box of tissues?

Chicken "Noodle" Soup
Makes 6 servings

8 cups chicken stock (see below for recipe if making your own)
2 lbs chicken breast and leg quarters
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup onions, small dice
1 cup kale, chopped in short ribbons (I like Dinosaur Kale)
1 cup whole wheat pasta shells (or whatever pasta you like)
salt and pepper to taste hot sauce to taste (optional)

Quick Chicken Stock

2 lbs chicken breast and thighs, skin removed
1 onion, halved
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
water to cover, about 8 cups

1. Make a quick chicken stock by adding raw chicken, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and pepper to a stock pot and cover with water, about 8 cups. Bring to a near boil then turn down and simmer for an hour. Skim stock of as much fat as possible, then strain stock and reserve chicken pieces. When chicken has cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

2. Alternately, if you are using prepared chicken stock, put raw chicken into the cold stock and bring just to a boil. Cover, turn off heat, and let sit for about ten minutes. Pull out cooked chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

3. While the stock simmers, saute onion, celery, and carrot in olive oil in a dutch oven on low until soft but not browned. Add stock, cooked chicken, kale, pasta and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.