About 12 years ago my younger daughter had a terrible fever and had been sick for a few days. The pediatrician surprised me when she offered me a recipe to make instead of putting my daughter on some medicine that probably wouldn’t work anyways.
I bought the ingredients and made it for my daughter that night. Within hours her fever broke and she was feeling better. Since then, it’s been a staple in my house and I keep some on hand in the freezer for those “just in case” moments. Yesterday I made about 3 batches so I’ll have it during my recovery time after surgery.
It’s a simple chicken soup recipe that was part of a study from the University of Nebraska. All the root vegetables give it healing qualities and it is also tasty! Jewish families know chicken soup as “Jewish Penicillin” so it’s nothing really new, but it’s cool that the doctor offered this to me instead of a pill. Here it is:
- 2 quarts water
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 lbs whole chicken, with skin but without neck and giblets
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1-1 1/2 cup carrots, about 1/2″ thick
- 1-1 1/2 cup celery, about 1/2″ thick
- 1-1 1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped (I like yellow onions)
- 1-1 1/2 cup sweet potato, cubed
- 1-1 1/2 cup turnips, cubed
- 1-1 1/2 cup parsnips, cubed
- 1/2 cup parsley, very coarsely chopped
Put water, salt, and pepper in a large stock pot (8-10 quarts) and bring to a boil. Add the whole chicken, return to boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about an hour.
While chicken is simmering, cut up remaining ingredients.
Remove chicken from pot to cutting board. Add vegetables to the broth and simmer about 1/2 hour. While vegetables are simmering, disjoint chicken, remove skin, remove chicken from bones and cut into chunks or shred. Return chicken to pot, add parsley and simmer about 1/2 hour longer.
I love to serve it with a side of french bread and butter. Enjoy!
Noble things 