Chicken & noodle soup

Preparation Time

10 minutes

Cooking Time

10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 70g egg noodles 875mls (3 1/2 cups) chicken stock
• 200mls water
• 3 small single chicken breast fillets, cut across the grain into 1.5cm-wide strips
• 60g baby spinach leaves, washed
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
• 1 green shallot, diagonally sliced
• Ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Cook the egg noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water following packet directions or until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, place the chicken stock and water in a large saucepan, cover and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken, cover and cook for 1 minute or until the chicken is just cooked. Remove from the heat. Add the baby spinach, mint and green shallot to the chicken and chicken stock. (See microwave tip.)
3. Divide the drained noodles evenly between 2 serving bowls. Ladle the chicken soup over the noodles, sprinkle with pepper and serve. microwave tip: Place the chicken stock and water into a large heat-resistant, microwave-safe dish. Cook, covered, for 4-6 minutes on High/850watts/100% or until the liquid comes to the boil. Add the chicken and cook, covered, for 1-2 minutes on Medium/500watts/50% or until the chicken is just cooked. Carefully remove the cover, and add the baby spinach, mint leaves and green shallot to the chicken and stock.
4. variations: vegetable noodle soup.
5. Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock and replace the chicken with 1 small red capsicum, deseeded and cut into strips, and 1 small carrot, peeled and cut into thin sticks.
6. beef & noodle soup - Replace the chicken stock with beef stock and omit the chicken. Stir-fry 200g beef fillet or rump strips in 1 tbs peanut oil for 1 minute or until sealed, and add to the soup with the baby spinach.

Notes & tips

microwave tip: Place the chicken stock and water into a large heat-resistant, microwave-safe dish. Cook, covered, for 4-6 minutes on High/850watts/100% or until the liquid comes to the boil. Add the chicken and cook, covered, for 1-2 minutes on Medium/500watts/50% or until the chicken is just cooked. Carefully remove the cover, and add the baby spinach, mint leaves and green shallot to the chicken and stock.
variations: vegetable noodle soup.
Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock and replace the chicken with 1 small red capsicum, deseeded and cut into strips, and 1 small carrot, peeled and cut into thin sticks.
beef & noodle soup - Replace the chicken stock with beef stock and omit the chicken. Stir-fry 200g beef fillet or rump strips in 1 tbs peanut oil for 1 minute or until sealed, and add to the soup with the baby spinach.

Simple to unusual, soup's on for seniors

BRIDGTON - The dish is sometimes simple: chicken noodle soup. It is sometimes unusual: pesto romano chicken sausage soup.

Either way, the soups served during the Wednesday senior lunch at the Bridgton Community Center are getting rave reviews every time.

It is a vote of confidence for some local restaurants that cook up and donate five gallons of their soup du jour to the senior meal program as part of a guest chef program.

"I figured since I was the kitchen manager, I could come in on my own time and (make the soup) when we had somebody else on. We don't mind as long as it helps out," said David Clark, a chef at Ricky's Diner.

He said making soup is his favorite thing to do, anyway. The diner plans to cook soup for the program at least once or twice a month.

The guest chef program is spicing up the Bridgton Community Center's four-year-old senior lunch program.

About 60 or so seniors come to the center every Wednesday for the hot meal offered at a suggested donation of $2. In prior years, Bridgton's Ingrid von Kannewurff cooked and ran the senior meal at the center with a group of dedicated volunteers. She also ran the senior transportation program.

But it was a lot for one person, said Cinda Roy, a senior meal volunteer and youth coordinator at the center.

So near the end of 2006, the call went out to local restaurants to help, since they were cooking up lunch already. It was answered by the chefs and cooks from Fine Kettle of Fish, Morning Dew Natural Foods Grocery & Cafe, Morning Glory Diner, Ricky's Diner, Trailside Steak and Seafood and 302 Roadhouse Restaurant and Pub.

Von Kannewurff is now focusing on the transportation program.

David Goldrup, a Bridgton resident and a regular diner at the senior lunch, said the meal was good when von Kannewurff was the chef. He says having the restaurants involved "is an excellent means of making themselves known to the locals. As a result of it we've visited several of them that we hadn't known of before."

Of the chowders and beef stews and chicken vegetable soups sampled by Goldrup over the past few weeks, nothing stands out as a favorite.

"They've all been very good," he said.

Roy, though, said the chicken noodle soup from Ricky's Diner is the best the center ever served.

Whether simple or unusual, the hot soup meal is an important part of the week for many of the area's senior citizens, Roy said.

"A lot of people get out only once a week, just for this meal," she said. "It's the one hot meal a week some people get."

It is also the perfect opportunity for people like Goldrup to catch up with friends. He'd take Clark's chicken noodle at the senior center over soup from a can at home any Wednesday.

"It's a social gathering as well as a good meal," he said. "I haven't had a bad one yet."

Pamper yourself with a bowl of chicken noodle soup

Last summer, a popular rap song called "Chicken Noodle Soup" hit the airwaves.

I'm kind of slow when it comes to understanding lyrics, so I'm not really sure what the song was about, but I do know that it was kid-friendly and a big hit.

That song is kind of like the yummy chicken noodle soup that you eat -- kids love it, and parents appreciate it, which makes it a popular dish.

I realize that cooking it yourself means that you can easily open a can of soup, warm it and enjoy it. However, once you take the time to make chicken noodle soup from scratch, you'll never reheat canned soup again.

Plus, since you're cooking for one, it's good to indulge yourself sometimes and veer away from the fast and easy to transition to a made-with-love dish.

Homemade chicken noodle soup is definitely a dish that says, "I love you."

After all, isn't it the dish Mom would make when you had the sniffles?

Chicken Noodle Soup

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/8 cup cubed or sliced cooked chicken

1/2 medium chopped onion

1 stalk celery, chopped

6 baby carrots, chopped

2 cloves roasted garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups water

1 teaspoon chicken base

1 cup thin egg noodles

In a small pot over medium heat, cook chicken pieces in oil until browned on both sides. Cover with lid. Stir in onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes more. Pour in water and chicken base, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes. Simmer until carrots are just tender.

Stir the noodles into pot (water should be boiling) and cook until tender, 10 minutes.

Return chicken meat to pot just before serving.

Serves 1 (with leftovers).