Comfort Food

I've been feeling poorly this weekend. Nothing too bad, just an awful cold. Luckily, today I didn't have to teach since in the US we are celebrating Martin Luther King Day, so I had a little extra time to try to feel better.

When I get sick, I crave the comfort that a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup provides. And it's ever so much more comforting when it's homemade, rather than opening a can.

Luckily, this past summer I made my own homemade chicken broth. I used what was left of a roast chicken, put it in a big pot, added pepper (and a little salt), covered everything with water, and let it cook for a number of hours. It was the first time that I had made my own broth, so I just googled how to do it, and the whole process was so easy (and made the house smell really good!). When the broth was ready, I divided it into separate containers, 2 cups to a container, and froze it all.

Yesterday I decided that I needed homemade chicken soup to feel better, so I pulled out some of the broth to defrost. I looked up chicken soup in several of the cookbooks that I had, but they all were a little more complicated than I felt up to. So I made up my own recipe! Here it is:

* Four cups of chicken broth (homemade, if you have it, but it doesn't have to be).

* One cup of rice.

* Two carrots.

(The amounts can be changed if you want more or less, but this is how I made it).

Cook the rice according to package instructions.

Heat up the broth.

Slice the carrots thinly, then add to the broth. Allow the carrots to cook in the broth as the rice finishes.

Season with salt and pepper.

There are more variations you could try - different spices, different veggies. I bet this would be good with celery, too. I was just working with what I had.

If you are going to eat it all at once, you can add the rice to the broth. But it will soak the broth up over time, so if you want to save some for leftovers, just add enough rice and broth to your bowl for one serving. Keep the rest separate until you are ready to eat it.

This makes a meal for two, or dinner and lunch for one.

Last night's fare also included edamame and a hot toddy (a little whiskey, boiling water, and lemon juice). Yum!

And speaking of 'yum,' I have no idea where I got the energy, but today I made more of these brownies (in my new [old] Pyrex baking dish!).

Now I'm off to make chicken rice soup for dinner again (I'm hooked!). Then brownies for dessert, and then it's an early bedtime for me! Hope you are all healthy in your part of the world - but if not, try this soup!