Immune Boosting Chicken Soup

‘Tis the season for colds and flu, so when my daughter called feeling under the weather, and I heard “I can’t believe your chicken soup is not on the blog,” I needed to fix that ASAP. Well, there are quite few chicken soup recipes on the blog but not THE chicken soup. My  *”under the weather soup” has only 5 ingredients…chicken, chicken broth, carrots, onions and rosemary. I throw this pocket soup together when needed. However, I doctored up the recipe below and added ingredients that contain additional immune boosting antioxidants and nutrients.

Garlic and ginger are spices known to have anti-inflammatory properties. The soup also contains a delicious dose of the following immune-boosting nutrients:

Celery – High in phytonutrients, anti-inflammatory components, and antioxidants.

Carrots -Vitamin A

Onions – Vitamins A, B6, C and E, minerals: sodium, potassium, iron

Lemon – Vitamin C

Chicken – Vitamin B12

Egg noodles – Folate

Grandma wasn’t wrong about chicken soup. The mixture of hydrating broth, healing herbs, fiber, protein and antioxidants makes the meal actually healthy, comforting AND delicious. My suggestion is to make a bunch and freeze, without the pasta.

Immune Boosting Chicken Soup

Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced/or more
2 celery ribs, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
5 cups chicken stock
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup uncooked ditalini pasta/ or your favorite pasta
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

*Simple soup. The real key is the rosemary! Wrap 2 stems of rosemary in cheese cloth. this will keep the leaves intact and just add the flavor. Saute carrots and onions in olive oil with salt and pepper… add broth then chicken. Once chicken is cooked thru, shred. Add pasta of choice.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger, lemon zest and rosemary until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
Whisk in chicken stock and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Add chicken; reduce heat and simmer. Cook, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Remove chicken and shred, using two forks; set aside.
Stir in pasta and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Stir in chicken and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.