12th century Egyptian physician, Moses Maimonides, was the first to prescribe chicken soup as a cold and asthma remedy. Now researchers at the University of Nebraska have found that homemade chicken soup really does make you feel better! Chicken soup boosts the immune system, clears clogged airways, and reduces congestion and inflammation by limiting the movement of white blood cells that produce infection-related mucus. So you have less sniffles. Garlic and onions are a natural decongestant, too. Plus this soup is super-comforting and easy for a raw throat to swallow.
1 whole chicken (3 lb.) or cut cup chicken
1 onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
5 carrots, sliced
5 stalks celery including leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3-4 large potatoes or 12 oz. noodles
3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning or 1/4 tsp each of sage, rosemary and marjoram
1 bay leaf, broken in half
1 tablespoon salt
Pepper to taste
Rinse chicken under running water, removing giblets and rinsing out cavities. Put chicken into a large stainless steel soup pot and add water to barely cover the chicken. Simmer on medium low heat for an hour or more until chicken separates easily from the bones. Lift chicken out of the pan and put on a tray to cool. (If you want to remove the fat, pour the cooking liquid into a pitcher and put it in the fridge so fat can congeal on the top of the broth for easy removal.) Remove chicken from bones and shred.
Add onions, garlic, carrots, celery, (potatoes), parsley and spices to the broth and simmer until the carrots are tender. If using noodles rather than potatoes, add noodles when the veggies are almost tender. When the noodles are done, stir in the chopped chicken meat. Simmer 5 more minutes to blend flavors. Serve steaming hot and inhale the steam to break nasal congestion.
