By Request

This is a recipe post for my sweet friend, Andrea.  She has been asking for some recipe ideas since before we went to China.  I'm sure you can guess that that hasn't made the top of my do-to list for obvious reasons!  But today as I was making lunch I decided I would just do one.  One at a time every few days or weeks until she's happy.  Or I run out of fun, new recipes!  So here goes. 

And if you aren't interested in this awesome Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, just skip to the bottom to see a super cute dude eating said soup!

Oh, and Andrea, I know you said that your husband isn't crazy about soups because they aren't hearty enough for him.  Well, I intend to change his mind!  Do you see the picture of my husband over there?  Does he look like the kind of man that could be satisfied with a dainty soup?  Huh?  No.  This soup is kid friendly, teenager approved and man filling!  Trust me. 

Chelsea's Chicken Noodle

Ingredients:

1 small onion
carrots
2-3 stalks celery
3 or more cloves garlic
1-2 cups frozen corn
2 32 oz boxes of broth (I use Veggie)
salt
pepper
curry powder
Bragg Liquid Aminos
parsley
Kombu {optional-more on this later}
1 package egg noodles
Chicken

Instructions:

First brown the chicken in a skillet with olive oil.  You can use boneless, skinless breast or I use tenderloins.  How much depends on how much you like.  We tend to go easy on the meat so I use about 1 tender per serving and this recipe will serve 8.  You can use more if you are big meat eaters.

Dice onion, press garlic, slice carrots and celery and then saute in olive oil until onions are transparent.  I do this in the pot I will use for the soup.

Next add the broth.  I use two boxes (32 oz each) of veggie broth or if I don't have any on hand, I will use vegetable soup base mixed with water. 

Cut the browned {or almost brown} chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the soup with 2 cups of frozen corn. 

Turn the heat up to bring the soup to a boil and add the seasonings while you wait.  I put in 3 or more Tbsp Bragg, a tsp curry powder, a thumb sized piece of Kombu {see package below}, some chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste. 

Turn down to a simmer and leave on until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.  You can leave it on longer if you want. 

See the Kombu in the soup.  It's that green square in the bottom of the picture. I buy dried Kombu and tear off a piece to add to soups, sauces, grains and beans when cooking.   Kombu is a sea vegetable that reconstitutes and releases it's nutrients into the cooking liquid.  This is absorbed by your food and will infuse your foods with the highly alkalinizing minerals, iron and iodine.  So, I use it often! {Insert Significant Source rolling her eyes at me!}

The last thing you do is add the package of noodles and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes.  Take off the heat and serve!

I often make the soup up ahead of time, but do not add the noodles.  You can refrigerate or freeze the soup, reheat and add the noodles later. 

This soup is heavy on noodles and veggies so I can't see how it could not be classified as a hearty soup.  It's so hearty in fact that my kids eat it with a FORK!

And the best part?

It fills teenagers!

And cute 3 year-olds with hollow legs!