Herb-Loaded Chicken Noodle Soup -- Two Hundred Weeks, and Still Relevant

Two hundred weeks of writing for RecipeSpinoff. I did not mark this milestone publicly — nobody is counting the weeks except me — but I noted it privately, in the way I note all milestones now, which is to say I thought about it while making soup and said to the soup, "Two hundred weeks, and you are still relevant," and the soup said nothing, because it is soup, but I felt the validation regardless. Two hundred essays about food and family and the Jewish kitchen and the women who stand in it. Two hundred recipes connected to two hundred weeks of a life that is getting harder and more beautiful simultaneously, which is not a contradiction but a fact.

I gave my students a writing exercise this week: describe a place that made you feel safe. Not "safe" in the abstract — safe specifically, concretely, sensorily. What did you see, hear, smell, taste? One girl wrote about her abuela's kitchen and the smell of sofrito. A boy wrote about his father's car and the sound of the radio on long drives. A girl wrote about the library and the particular quality of silence in a room full of books. I read them and thought: this is what I'm teaching. Not grammar. Not syntax. The ability to notice. The ability to remember. The ability to say, "This mattered to me, and here is how I know."

Marvin and I had a quiet weekend. Quiet weekends used to be boring — the unexceptional stretches between the events, the gaps in the calendar. Now they are precious. Now a quiet weekend means: nothing went wrong. Marvin ate his meals. He slept through the night. He sat in his chair and looked at the newspaper and seemed content, and "seemed content" is now the high-water mark of what I hope for, and I am learning to find abundance in the small things, because the small things are what remain when the large things have been taken. I made chicken soup on Sunday. He ate it with challah. He said, "Thank you, Ruthie." Thank you. The two most important words in the English language, and he still has them.

Sunday’s soup was not elaborate — it never is, and that is the point. When Marvin said “Thank you, Ruthie,” I thought about how the simplest things carry the most weight, and how a bowl of chicken soup has been doing that work in my kitchen for two hundred weeks. This herb-loaded chicken noodle is the version I come back to: bright with parsley and thyme, golden with good stock, substantial enough to mean something. If you are feeding someone you love, or simply feeding yourself through a hard and beautiful stretch of time, this is the one.

Herb-Loaded Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 2 cups egg noodles (uncooked)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more until fragrant.
2. Build the broth. Pour in the chicken broth and increase heat to medium-high. Add the whole chicken pieces, thyme, and rosemary. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Cook the chicken. Simmer uncovered for 18–20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.
4. Shred and return. Use two forks to shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return the shredded chicken to the pot.
5. Add the noodles. Bring the soup back to a gentle boil and add the egg noodles. Cook according to package directions, typically 6–8 minutes, until tender.
6. Finish with herbs. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the parsley, dill, and lemon juice. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately, with crusty bread or challah alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 285 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 520mg