Chloe's Virus-Killing Chicken Soup

Yeah, it started here. And it was posted here. And again here. And those are just the ones I know about. But this is my version. :-P

Seriously, this soup is amazing. It tastes incredible, and the anti-biotic and anti-bacterial properties of the garlic, the nasal-clearing properties of the peppers, and the general immune-boosting properties of the vitamins from the veggies can't help but improve/maintain your health.

I was re-formatting it into my standard recipe format, which makes it easier for me to read, anyway, so I thought I'd share it here.

We're trying to avoid another round of the stomach virus that's been circulating and avoid getting the flu at all, so we're having this for dinner tonight.

• one whole chicken
• water to cover + 4 bullion cubes or 4 t bullion powder
o or 2 boxes/cans chicken stock + water to cover
• 15-30 cloves garlic, minced or crushed (1 1/2-2 bulbs)
• 1 T salt
• 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
o or 1 1/2 t dried thyme
• fresh rosemary
o or oregano sprigs
• cayenne pepper, about 1 tsp.
o or 1/2 t cayenne + 1/2 t curry powder + 1/2-1 t crushed red peppers
• ground black pepper

• 1 large onion (coarsely chopped or sliced)
• 1 fennel bulb (sliced thin)
o or 1 t dried ground fennel
• 1 leek (sliced thin)
• 4-6 stalks of celery (coarse chopped)
• 1-3 large red and/or yellow bell peppers (coarse chopped)
• 1/2 lb. carrots (coarse chopped)
o or 1-2 lbs. carrots, if missing several of the above veggies
• any other stout veggies preferred by your family
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 C white wine, optional
• salt and pepper

• Frozen green beans
• Frozen peas
• zucchini
• flat leaf parsley (chopped)
• 1-2 cans chopped tomatoes with juice
• any other quick-cooking veggies preferred by your family
• salt and pepper to taste

• leafy green veggies

1. Place chicken, garlic, salt, thyme, rosemary, and peppers in a soup pot.
2. Cover with water/bullion or chicken broth.
3. Simmer on stove top until chicken starts to fall apart (1-2 hours, depending on attitude of bird and altitude of home).
4. Remove from heat.
5. Remove chicken and set aside to cool.
6. Using slotted spoon or strainer, remove larger herb pieces (i.e. stems).
7. Place oil in bottom of large pot and heat.
8. Add first group of veggies and sauté until onion is just transparent.
9. Add wine and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
10. Cover the vegetables with chicken broth from chicken--add more broth from can or box if you don't have enough broth from chicken.
11. Or skip steps 7-10 and just add the sliced veggies to the broth.
12. Simmer veggies until beginning to become tender.
13. Meanwhile, de-bone chicken.
14. Add quick-cooking veggies (2nd group) and de-boned chicken meat and continue to simmer until veggies are tender.
15. Add any greens, such as spinach, simmering a minute or two to wilt.
16. Serve or cool and freeze.

Serving options:
• Tortilla Soup: top with monterey jack or mozzarella cheese, slices of avocado and tortilla or tortilla chip pieces.
• Chicken Noodle Soup: Add egg noodles and simmer until cooked.
• Freezer Soup: Freeze, either in meal- or individual-sized portions to be served to sick members of the household as needed.
o For example, freeze in a standard-sized mug, remove from mug and store in freezer ziplock bag. Thaw and heat in original mug.

Benefits:
• Garlic: anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties
• Peppers: opens sinuses
• Veggies: vitamins and minerals
o i.e. carrots are packed with Vitamin A and bell peppers with Vitamin C

Saha!