Chicken soup and vitamins are no substitute for a visit to the doctor if you are feeling unwell, but you are a smart cookie. Just thought I’d mention it. Inspiration for this recipe goes to Marta Rivera of Sense and Sensibility dot com, although I always make changes. You would be wise to take your vitamins daily, are usual, and if you don’t normally supplement with Vitamin C, I recommend you drink some fresh squeezed Orange Juice. Elsewhere in this blog I have recipes for Copycat Orange Julius, which I could drink every day, and something I call Orange You Glad. Both are delicious, loaded with all natural vitamin C, and go down smoothly. They do have quite a bit of sugar, though. Some people swear by zinc and elderberry as ways to help prevent colds and flu and I have no data to refute those claims. Avoiding people who are sick and sanitizing your hands are the best preventions, but we all get sick with some kind of bug from time to time. Here is the modified “Medicine Bomb Chicken Soup” recipe. I have omitted one difficult to obtain and questionably helpful ingredient (star anise), added green onion in place of some of the white onion, added bone broth, and changed the amounts of some other ingredients . The soup can be stored under refrigeration for up to one week or frozen for up to two months.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 pieces green onion, sliced into small pieces
1 head garlic, peeled and sliced
2" piece ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks (use side of spoon to peel off skin)
1" piece turmeric, peeled and sliced into thin rounds (use vegetable peeler and wear gloves to avoid staining fingers)
3 stalks celery, sliced thinly on a bias
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
(Optional, if you can find this, go ahead and use it) 1 5-inch piece of lemongrass, trimmed of the ends and bruised by smashing with the butt of a kitchen knife
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves chopped
1 gallon minus 4 Oz cold water
4 Oz bone broth
1 3 to 4 pound chicken cut into 8 serving pieces (breasts, thighs, legs, and wings) or 1 whole, cut up chicken (giblets discarded)
2 Tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
Directions
Wash herbs under cold running water and tie the bunches of rosemary and thyme (sorry, no parsley or sage) together. They will be removed later.
In a very large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
Add the white onions, garlic and ginger, and allow to cook for 3 minutes or until translucent.
Add the turmeric, celery, carrots, lemongrass, and the herbs and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken to the pot, followed by the water, salt and pepper. Bring the water to a boil and reduce the heat to low.
Allow the soup to simmer on low for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Turn off burner when done.
Remove the soup from the stove and remove the chicken pieces from the soup. Shred the meat from the bones, discarding both the bones and the skin. Also discard the lemongrass and the all the herb woody stems.
Drop the freshly cut green onion pieces into the soup.
Adjust the seasoning, if needed, to your taste by adding more salt or pepper.
Ladle into bowls and serve while hot.
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