Almost Homemade Chicken Soup

Beth and I were both feeling crappy, joking that we had the Swine Flu. I really do not like store made chicken soup, I just can’t stand hot celery for some reason. So I threw together a hot soup meal with a few simple ingredients, some of which were left over from my attempt at Rachael’s slurpy noodle bowls (another “make your own takeout” meal). The ingredients:
1. About two cups chicken broth
2. A splash of chicken stock
3. Olive oil misto spray or Pam
4. 1 pound of chicken thighs
5. Pasta, about a cup of macaroni and a cup of vermicelli (I didn’t have that much vermicelli left so you could use whatever type of pasta you like)
6. I’d say you could add vegetables to this too, such as mushrooms, carrots and celery (if you like it)
7. Salt, pepper and garlic (optional, I stay away from spicy things when I’m sick)

Spray a 10-inch nonstick pan with olive oil or Pam. You can use a little chicken broth to cook the chicken in too. Cook chicken thighs on top of the stove until cooked through, probably about 20-25 minutes, until no longer pink. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken is at least 185 degress. Once the thighs are done, you can even cut them with a knife or with scissors (seems to be easier to cube these with scissors). I also cut the fat away after the chicken was cooked, and that’s definitely easier to do than cutting fat off raw chicken. While the chicken is cooking, you can boil water and cook the pasta too. Drain the pasta. Mix pasta, chicken and broth in a pot and simmer over low heat until boiling. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic.

I think this came out pretty good, and tasted a lot like Campbell’s. This leads me to the conclusion that despite the claims on soup cans and microwavable soup bowls that they are using white meat chicken, they are actually using chicken thighs. If you prefer white meat, you can substitute the thighs with chicken breasts.

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