For years I made a quick chicken soup in tandem with my Deep South Minestrone at the beginning of every semester to fight the onslaught of mid-term germs that goes with teaching at a party school. Around mid-term my students come dragging in sniffing and coughing. It sounds as if the classroom has been turned into a consumption unit at the John Keats Memorial Hospital and Poetry Ward. I’ve been taking cough drops to class for years, but until they outlaw keg parties, I will need more protection. I only wish they allowed hot plates in the classroom, and I could protect everyone.

They don’t call chicken soup the Jewish penicillin for nothing. It can knock out a cold in seconds flat or at least make you feel that being a human being again is possible. So my Quick Chicken Soup has been a life saver on many occasions, and it really is easy and tasty. I use an entire bulb of garlic. Remember, we’re in the germ annihilation business here.

However, there is a whole world of chicken soups that are hotter, richer, wilder, and more exotic. Once you enter the land of chicken soup, there is no return. from Latin America, Indonesia, and Thailand.

  • Quick Chicken Soup
  • Serious Chicken Soup
  • Thai Tom Kha Gai
  • Moroccan Djej Kdra Touimiya
  • Italian Stracciatella
  • Tunisian Chicken Stew
  • West African Chicken-Peanut Soup
  • Tanzanian Curried Chicken-Banana Soup
  • Colombian Sancoco de Gallina
  • Dominican Caldo de Gallina
  • Colombian Ajiaco Bogotano
  • Portuguese Canja de Galinha
  • Mexican Caldo de Pollo
  • Indonesian Soto Ayam
  • Quick Chicken Soup

Quick Chicken Soup

2 medium yellow onions

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 bulb (not clove) of garlic

2 boneless organic chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces

4 carrots diced

salt and 3 kinds of pepper

2 cartons (8cups) of organic low-fat chicken stock

2 cups pre-cooked brown rice (some wild rice looks good–make it half and half)

1 bag of organic frozen peas (or fresh, but then the recipe is not quick)

Chop the onions and garlic and sauté in the olive oil. I know it sounds like a lot of garlic, but it isn’t.

When the onion and garlic are translucent, add the chicken pieces and brown them. Season with sea salt and the peppers to taste. I don’t like food to be too hot, but I do like a few currents of heat. I use freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, and a dash of cayenne. Fresh peppers from the garden are also good, but be careful. They can be lethal.

Add the carrots and saute. When they have started to soften, add the chicken stock, brown rice, and peas. Simmer until all the flavors have married together.

Let it cool in the fridge overnight and divide into double and single portions for the freezer. Makes about 14 servings.