Homestyle Chicken Soup

Nothing is better than chicken soup on a cold, winter day. Here is a recipe that grandmothers will swear treats colds and flus from icdietproject.com.

Homestyle Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

3-3/4 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (preservative-free & msg-free)
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion, chopped (if tolerated)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
4 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper (optional and if tolerated)
1 pinch of turmeric


Directions:

Bring water and broth to a boil in a 2-3 quart pot. Add chicken and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 6-7 minutes. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Remove chicken breasts to a plate to cool. Reserve liquid that the chicken cooked in.

While chicken breasts cool, cook the onion* in oil in a large skillet. When onion is soft but not browned, (about 5 minutes), add garlic. Continue to cook, stirring about a minute more.

Pour the liquid from the chicken through a strainer, into another container, then pour the strained liquid back into the pot. Add the onions and garlic to the pot. Add the other chopped vegetables. Cover and simmer on low.

Meanwhile, cut up the cooked chicken into bite-sized. Add chicken and parsley* to the soup along with salt, pepper and turmeric. Simmer covered about 30 minutes more. Ladle into bowls and serve with warm crusty bread.

*Note: Frying the onion destroys sulfur compounds in the raw onion that might irritate sensitive IC bladders. Boiling doesn’t get the onion hot enough to do that. For those with oxalate-sensitive vulvodynia: if parsley is a problem, try chervil instead. You can also add one of these for variety: ¼ cup of rice, ½ cup of pasta shells, or ½ cup of diced boiling potatoes.