My Little Kitchen: In a Flash Grandma's Chicken Noodle

With flu season upon us and the threat of snow tomorrow (what's with that???  It's still October!), nothing is more comforting on a cold stormy day or weathering through a crummy illness like some old fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup.  

Now, my grandmother made the best chicken noodle soup I've ever had (just as I'm sure everyone's grandmother did).  She would roast the chicken, make the stock, and homemade noodles... it was heaven.  But I'm lazy and don't have the time or space in my kitchen to do anything close to that.  However, I have mastered a recipe that is just like Grandma's and you can make it in less than 30 minutes, if that.

In a Flash Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup

Makes 8 Servings

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 celery stocks, chopped
*Note: to make this "chopping" process even faster, Trader Joe's sells chopped onions, celery, and carrots all together in a container in their produce section - 1 container of that will do just fine.
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Tbls Olive Oil
8 cups Chicken Stock 
1 rotisserie chicken (I like the ones from Whole Foods, but any store bought one will do)
2 cups egg noodles, uncooked
3 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped (don't use dried... the fresh is worth it)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Toss the onion, carrots, and celery in there, give it a good stir and then put a lid on it.  Let the veggies sweat it out for about 5 - 7 minutes.  Toss in the garlic and give it a good stir or two, and then put the lid back on.  Let this cook another 3 minutes or so.

In the meantime, grab that rotisserie chicken and get ready to rumble.  Discard the skin (it should slip off easily with your fingers) and pull that bird apart like you're a neanderthal.  Remove all the bones and hard cartilage until you have a nice pile of juicy, roasty (yes, that's a word) chicken.  Take two forks and shred the chicken by pulling it apart with the forks - I prefer this to chopping it up.  Then wash your hands, because that's a pretty messy job - but well worth it!

Toss in the chicken and stock into the veggie pot.  Give it a taste and then add your salt and pepper.  Bring the soup up to a boil.  Once the soup is boiling, add the egg noodles, stir, and cook for about 5 - 6 minutes.  Stir in the parsley and turn it off.  Done and done!  

Serve this with your favorite crackers and you'll swear Grandma is visiting. Enjoy!