Chicken Soup for the Soul - with a few added extras!

Chicken Soup is still one of my most comforting comfort foods, and when I'm feeling a little under the weather there is nothing better to make me feel so much better too. My Grandma Jo started the tradition of chicken soup in my lifetime and then my Mum carried it on from there. They would both refer to it as Jewish penicillin due to its healing properties, and placebo or not placebo it always seems to work for me when I am feeling one degree under. Here is my basic method for chicken soup - but tonight I'm going to add a bunch of extra ingredients to make it into a proper meal... it's still cooking right now but smells yummy and as it is at the simmering stage I thought I would take the time to blog the method whilst I was waiting for it to finish cooking. I hasten to add all of this is complete guess work so I just hope it tastes as yummy as it smells as I'm getting seriously hungry....

So I started with frozen batch of home-made chicken soup which I knew I had in the freezer (defrosted in the microwave for 5 minutes before adding straight to the pan to defrost fully and warm through)...

To this I added 2 carrots...

Half a pepper (diced)

Half an onion (diced)

Handful of runner beans from Mum & Dad's garden (diced)

2 small courgette, also from Mum & Dad's garden (diced)

2 of these handfuls of brown spaghetti, snapped in half

1 glove of garlic (crushed)

A good grind of both salt and pepper

Chopped fresh herbs from our garden (I used thyme, basil, chives and oregano, but whatever you have would be fine)

 

All the lovely ingredients now in the pan....      

Bring to  the boil....

Then place the lid on and leave to simmer for an hour or so...

After a taste test I then decided to add an organic vegatable stock cube (this is fine as there is nothing artificial in it at all so all it does is add a little more natural flavour)

I also added a swig of milk (modelled here by my Adam)

Done!

It was absolutely gorgeous, so nourishing and really filling too. I even, once cooled, kept a second portion in the fridge and heated it up for dinner the following day, the flavours had only intensified and it was even yummier again! So please with the result. Completely made up method - definitely one I will cook again and again!