Emergency Chicken Soup

Whenever I think of chicken soup, I think of my grandmother.  She served her homemade version to the family every Friday night.  This was back in the days when whole chickens, not beautifully prepacked chicken parts, were sold in grocery stores. 

One of the most exciting aspects of her soup was the possibility of tiny cooked egg yolks popping up in the soup bowl.  At the time you could get real chickens seemingly straight from the farm, and these chickens had unlaid eggs in various stages of development inside them.  The downside was you had to gut and clean the chickens yourself.

Only when I became an adult did I realize how much time my grandmother spent preparing her soup.  I wonder whether she would be thrilled or appalled by my quick and easy version?  I put it together the other night when I failed to plan a proper dinner.

My fallback was a lonely uncooked chicken breast I found in the freezer. I semi-thawed it in the microwave, cut it into bite-size pieces and added the pieces to 2 cups of water in a medium-size pot.  Then I added some vegetables, pasta and spices, cooked it for 15 minutes and voila--a one-dish meal that was both warming and nostalgic. 

Emergency Chicken Soup – serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a soup 

1 large chicken breast
2 cups water + more if needed
2 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-pieces
2 scallions, cut into 1/2-pieces
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-pieces
1/3 cup corn kernels
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz. dried angel hair pasta
Parmesan cheese 

If the chicken breast is frozen, microwave until it’s partly defrosted.  Or use a fresh chicken breast.  Cut it into 1-inch pieces.  Put 2 cups water into a medium-size pot, add the chicken and begin heating over medium-high heat.  After 5 minutes, add the cut-up tomatoes, scallions, zucchini, corn, soy sauce, garlic salt and black pepper. 

Cook another 5 minutes and then add the angel hair pasta.  Stir well so that the noodles are submerged.  Cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add 1/2 cup more water if the soup seems too thick. 

Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side.

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