Olive oil
3 large Chicken breasts
2 quarts chicken stock or broth
2 or 3 cups Egg noodles
1 large onion, chopped
3 or 4 celery stalks, chopped
3 or 4 carrots, chopped
a handful of Fresh parsley, chopped
a handful of Spinach, fresh or frozen, chopped
Peas, green beans, or other veggies you enjoy

SPICES:

1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. Bay leaves, chopped, or 3 whole
1 tsp. fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp. Creole seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Pour a small amount of olive oil into the soup pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is warm, add the chicken breasts and begin to brown them. As they are browning, chop the onions, celery, and carrots. Turn the chicken breasts several times. (You don't have to cook the chicken all the way through, just brown it.)

Remove the chicken from the pot to a cutting board. Reduce heat to medium, and put the onions, celery and carrots in the pot and begin to sauté them. Meanwhile, chop the chicken.

Add the chicken back to the pot and stir. Saute, stirring occasionally, while you chop the rest of your veggies.

Add all the spices to the pot and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring.

Pour the 2 quarts chicken stock into the pot and increase heat to high. Add the rest of the veggies. (Everything except the noodles should now be in the pot.) Add 1 or 2 cups of water, depending on how much broth you'd like in your soup. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.

Simmer the soup for 30 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile put your noodles on to boil in a separate pot. You want them to be ready right before you eat. Make a batch of biscuits if you want - they are great with this soup! When your noodles are ready, drain them, but keep separate from soup.

To serve, put some noodles in each bowl, then add the soup. Serve with biscuits and honey-butter.

NOTES:

--When anyone in our family starts to get a sore throat or a cold, we immediately make this soup. We are all convinced that eating it 2 or 3 times a day vastly speeds up "getting well"!

--For easier preparation, grill or bake the chicken beforehand and chop it up, or use pre-cooked chicken such as a rotisserie from your supermarket.

--Kirkland Chicken Stock from Costco has an excellent flavor.

--The quantities of each ingredient in this recipe are highly variable. Adjust them according to your taste.

--We don't add the noodles directly to the soup pot because we don't like them to get too soggy.

--The soup keeps very well in the refrigerator for several days; it also freezes well for later use.

Submitted by: John123