Basic Chicken Soup

Chicken soup at its most fundamental. Elana, this is for you :)

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup chopped onion, about 1 large
5 celery stalks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced, or 2 tsp bottled minced garlic, or 1/2 tsp dried garlic
1 small package mushrooms, quartered (optional)
2 cups chicken broth, or to your preference - I use as little broth as possible in my soups, to get the best flavor and because I don't like to drink the broth after eating the soup
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried parsley
Optional: 1 bay leave, 1 tsp chopped rosemary
Ground pepper to taste

Heat a Dutch oven (that's a big pot with relatively short sides, as opposed to a stock pot) over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray, and lay the chicken breasts into the hot pan. Cook for 4 minutes undisturbed, then turn with a spatula and cook for 4 minutes more. Don't worry if some bits stick - those bits make the broth taste good. Remove to a cutting board when done.

Dump in the vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, making sure to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Then add the broth and the herbs. There must be enough broth to cover the vegetables; any more beyond that is your choice. Turn the heat to high and leave it to boil.

Meanwhile, chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. (The reason I chop it now is because it's easier to chop cooked meat than raw meat.) When it's chopped, and the soup is boiling, add the chicken back in. Turn the heat to medium, and cook until the veggies are just tender, about 8 minutes.

If you want noodles: You must add the noodles at the same time as the chicken, and cook according to package directions (usually 8 minutes but it depends on the noodle). You will need to add more broth for the noodles to use. About 1/2 cup broth per handful of noodles. This is a great time to use whole wheat noodles, because their firmer structure and robust flavor works well in a soup.