Chicken Noodle Veggie Soup

I made chicken noodle soup, which could only mean one thing... Yep, I was sick. As per usual, I put a ton of ingredients into this recipe, and I think it turned out quite good. It helped my throat a lot too, which is what really matters. In the recipe below, I suggest using a broth to add more flavor to the soup. However, I did not have broth available and felt too sick to go to the store, so I just used a combination of some almond milk and overly spiced water. Wasn't too bad, but could have been better.


Recipe:

(Creates 3 Servings)

1 Large Chicken Breast
1 1/2 Lemons
3 Stalks Celery
1 Head of Broccoli (and stem)
1 Large Tomato
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium Onion
1 Cup Brown Rice Noodles
About 5 Cups Chicken/Vegetable Broth
1 Handful (per bowl) Roasted & Salted Sunflower Seeds
Fresh Parsley
Oregano
Basil
Turmeric
Salt
Ginger


Directions:

((If you chop up everything in advance before you begin cooking, I'd recommend cooking it all for about 15-20 minutes total. Or you can chop and add as you go for however long it takes, which is what I usually do.))

Chop the chicken and broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Put them into a large pot with about 5 cups of your choice of broth (add more broth in later if the ingredients are so numerous that they are no longer submerged in the broth) and bring it to a boil.

In the meantime, chop up the rest of the ingredients into bite sized pieces (except for the lemon and noodles) and add them in as you finish chopping them.

Add in spices (I recommend some turmeric, basil, oregano, salt, and ginger) as you go.

Once the broth is boiling, turn it down to medium high so that it doesn't boil too violently. Add in the brown rice noodles and continue stirring in ingredients as they are chopped. I'd recommend adding in the tomatoes, parsley and celery last, since they don't really need to be cooked much.

Once the last of your ingredients are in, let it all continue to cook for about five minutes. Serve with a handful of sunflower seeds and about half a lemon's worth of freshly squeezed lemon juice on top of each serving.

Cheater Additions: The whole time I was eating this I kept imagining how wonderful it would taste with some cheese on top. I recently discovered that Almond Cheese exists, and the brand I found only has one iffy ingredient. I'd recommend using some of that in moderation if you'd like to try it.