I mentioned yesterday that I might be coming down with something. I haven’t been feeling great, but for now it seems to be holding off. Hopefully I just have a mild case of the sniffles and the blahs. Nothing worse.

Whenever I’m sick, I crave chicken noodle soup. I mean, who doesn’t? But I have had the damnedest time trying to find a good chicken noodle soup here in London. Sure the shops have nice fancy gourmet versions in the refrigerated section, but the point of chicken soup when you are sick is that you can always have it on hand. A stockpiled in the panty of the little red and white cans of condensed Campbells goodness comes in very handy when you can’t get yourself out of bed to go to the store.

I’m not going to lie, the last canned chicken noodle soup I bought had the consistency of snot and pieces of corn floating in it. I am not willing to take the risk again. So yesterday, before any real illness struck, I set off to the store to buy chicken and noodles. Then I remembered that I had some asparagus that I should use up. And red pepper. And spring onions. So the next thing I knew I was breaking my own rule and making a fancier version of this comfort classic.

Even though this may not have turned out very similar to classic Campbells-like chicken noodle soup, it hit the spot. And really had I just stopped myself after about ingredient #3 I would have had a tasty basic version. So feel free to leave out any or all green vegetables from this recipe. Or of course add more!

Start by sautéing onion, carrot, and red bell pepper. You could also add celery if you had it on hand. I just hate buying the whole bunch when all I need is one stalk. I know few people who actually like plain celery. Okay, I know one person: my cousin, Nick. He can happily eat an entire head of celery (are they called heads, bunches, hearts?) in one sitting.

Next brown the chicken and coat with the tomato paste and white wine.

Then add broth and simmer on a low heat while you boil some pasta. I cook the pasta separately so that my broth doesn’t get to starchy.

When you are almost ready to serve, add the rest of the vegetables and the drained pasta. This way they don’t over cook!

This soup has all the traditional comfort of a classic chicken noodle, but with the freshness of spring veggies to brighten up your bowl and hopefully give you more nourishment to get better soon!!

Sometimes when I make a simple soup, I still want to glam-up dinner. It’s so easy to take a meal from ehhh to ahhh. Just add an easy side of fresh toasted bread, with a hunk of cheese, some good olive oil, and a few slices of prosciutto. That looks nice enough for a non-sick day now!

Spring Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4

½ Tbs. olive oil

½ onion, diced

1 small carrot, diced

½ red pepper, diced

¾ lb chicken breast, diced

1 Tbs. tomato paste

¼ cup white wine

5 cups chicken broth

1 cup dried small pasta

½ cup sugar snap peas, sliced

½ cup asparagus, sliced

¼ cup spring onions, sliced

Salt and Pepper

In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion and carrot. After 3 minutes, add the red pepper. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, then salt and pepper the chicken and add to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and deglaze with the white wine. Add the chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta for 6 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add along with snap peas, asparagus, and spring onion. Cook for 3-5 minutes and serve.