With the change in the weather and the change in schedules from regular school to summer school, my body decided to cope by getting sick. So, tonight I made what I call “Sick Day Soup”. Onions, garlic, and ginger are all good, anti-inflammatory immune-boosters — perfect for fighting colds and sore throats. Since immune-boosters are very valuable resources for new teachers (as well as grad students), I thought I would include it here under School as well as Lactose-Free Cooking. I have two caveats for this recipe:
1.) I like spicy food. So, if spicy isn’t your thing, try reducing the amount of ginger to two teaspoons and go from there.
2.) I don’t measure when I make soup, so these measurements are really just approximations (sounds better than “guesses” :))
1 4-cup carton of Chicken Stock (I like to use Kitchen Basics Original because it has reduced sodium and no MSG)
2 teaspoons minced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 Tablespoon ground ginger (if it’s not strong enough, keep adding by teaspoons until you get the desire taste.)
1 teaspoon lemon grass
1 cup chopped uncooked chicken
1 cup chopped carrots (I just halved baby carrots for tonight’s dinner)
Whole Wheat egg noodles.
Black Pepper to taste
I heat the broth with the spices first. This way, I can make sure that I have the taste I want. I make it a little stronger than I want because it will mellow a bit when the chicken, carrots, and noodles are added. Once that is done, I add the chicken and the carrots and boil for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken and carrots are done. In a separate pot, I cook the pasta — 2-3 cups. I don’t add the pasta to the soup because the noodles tend to disintegrate if there is soup left over. I add the pasta to my bowl and then add the desired amount of soup and black pepper. This recipe makes 4 servings.
* Another version is pictured below with long grain and wild rice instead of pasta
thoughts and songs 