• Servings: 8+
• 2 1/2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (about 2 boneless skinless breasts)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 celery stalks, chopped, including tops and leaves
• 8 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 8 oz. egg noodles
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

1. If you have a slow cooker, I highly recommend using it to cook the chicken for this recipe. Add the two chicken breasts and cover with water (about two cups), and cook on high for 4 hours. Otherwise, place the chicken breasts in a large pot, fill with water, bring to a boil, and cook for 90 minutes. Shred the cooked chicken with a fork.
3. Place a large pot over medium-high heat and coat with the olive oil. Add the shallot, garlic, squash, celery, mushrooms, bay leaf, and thyme. Sautee until the mushrooms and celery are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook the egg noodles according to package instructions. Add the shredded chicken and stir throughout. Turn off heat and remove the bay leaf. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Let me tell you about my chicken noodle soup. While I was living with one of my best friends, Laura, I used to make a huge pot of it during the winter and we’d eat it all week long. Laura would constantly ask me to make a batch, which I gladly did. She later moved to another city, but to this day, she texts me from time to time telling me how much she misses it. “I think about it a lot,” she once proclaimed. It was one of my proudest moments as a cook. Yesterday was a cold, rainy day and I was feeling a little sniffly, so I was in a chicken noodle soup mood. I used butternut squash instead of carrots this time, to make the soup feel more like winter. I like to make mine with a high “broth-to-stuff ratio”, as I call it, meaning it’s loaded with noodles, chicken and veggies. For less than $10, I’m fed for the rest of the week – as well as any unexpected guests that pop by.