chicken soup?

The classic feel good soup.  Make it the way grandma did, or mix it up a bit with a little oriental flair.  I started with about four cups of home made chicken stock, but a decent store bought broth will work just fine.  Heat the broth just below a simmer, add a tablespoon of soy sauce, and grate in a thumb-sized piece of ginger and a thumb-sized piece of lemon grass.  Both lemon grass and ginger freeze very well.  I buy both, chop them into large chunks, and throw them in a freezer bag, so I have lemon grass and ginger on hand all the time.  Add a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the broth, and poach them just until they are cooked through -- about twenty minutes.  Remove the breasts from the broth. 

Now the fun starts.  I bought a package of udon noodles in an oriental grocery store.  They are like very thick spaghetti noodles, and since they are fresh, they cook very quickly.  If you can't find fresh udon, you can usually find a dried version in the oriental ingredient section of most grocery stores.  The dried version will take a little longer to cook.  So don't add the carrots until the dried noodles are nearly done.

sliced poached chicken, green onion and serrano chili, julienned carrots,

cilantro, and udon noodles

Bring the broth up to a fast simmer, and add the noodles and the carrots.  After about 10 minutes, add the cut up chicken.  Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.  I like peanuts in asian style soups, so I chopped up a handful.  

the peanuts, onions, chilies, and cilantro go in the soup as garnishes

Garnished with chili, green onion, cilantro, and peanuts, this soup makes for a quick, healthy, and tasty meal.

an attractive, colorful bowl of soup that tastes as good as it looks