Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Brrr it's cold in here.
There must be some Torros in the atmosphere.
O E O E O.
Ice ice ice.

Seriously ice ice ice; today has a windchill of -7. NEGATIVE SEVEN. I almost froze off my toes, fingers, nose, and ears walking into work from my car today. And I was wearing a scarf, hat and mittens. Yeah. Brrrrr cold. It is days like today that I miss North Carolina winters. I long for lows in the 20-30s and varied elevations that can block some of the wind.

Days like today also make me want hot, steaming soup. Good thing I made this chicken noodle soup last week so I had leftovers to warm up for lunch today. It helped warm my core (although my extremities are still feeling phantom breezes).

The best thing about this recipe is that it is quality comfort food. Not only is the weather in full winter force, but many people have been succumbing to the flu. This will remedy both those things. I know when you are sick you have no desire to be cooking anything, but this is perfect because even your significant other with no kitchen experience can whip it up in a heart beat. I used leftover chicken thighs from a recipe I was testing for a fellow blogger last week. You could certainly use a precooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Or just quickly boil a few chicken breasts and throw those in. To make it even more simple for your loved one to wait on you, they could pick up prediced onion, carrots and celery.

Do it! Your body will thank you.

Chicken Noodle Soup (adapted from a recipe card from Kroger)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 tbsp flour
4 cups vegetable stock (homemade) or low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper, more to taste
3 tbsp pearled barley
1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken thighs and/or breasts
3 oz whole wheat spaghetti noodles, broken in half
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Directions:
Heat oil in a large pot oven medium high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and saute for about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and mix to coat. Whisk in broth and water. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the barley, bring back to a boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the barley is tender. Add the chicken and noodles. Bring back to a boil and cook 8-10 minutes until noodles are cooked completely and chicken is hot. Stir in parsley. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, as desired.

Serves 4-6.