Cold-Busting Super Lemony Ginger Chicken Soup

Whenever I get a cold, I always crave chicken soup. Obviously! But oddly enough, chicken soup in a can does not exist in our neighborhood grocery store. That leaves me several unappealing options: Have a stockpile on hand for when sickness strikes, head out to a specialty grocery and buy some, or make stock ahead and freeze to whip up soup in a jiffy. None of these options works well because if we have a stockpile of cans, we end up eating it other times. When I'm sick the last thing I want to do is make a trip to a specialty grocery (and most likely find they don't have what I'm looking for when I get there anyway;) And our freezer is just slightly bigger than a shoebox, so we don't the option of freezing anything.

The last time I was sick with a cold about a month ago, I took the path of least resistance to brothy, healing goodness. I cut corners, I broke all the rules, and I made a delicious, nourishing soup in about half an hour. It was so satisfying and soothing, that even when we have access to cans again, I will probably go ahead and make this anyway. It's not made with homemade chicken stock, or even home-roasted chicken, but I'm no longer convinced that's better. 

Cold-Busting Super Lemony Ginger Chicken Soup

1 store-bought rotisserie half chicken

2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 liter (32 oz) fresh water, or as directed on your bouillon

3 celery stalks, sliced thin

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 small onion, diced

15 grams (1 Tbsp) butter

1 knob of ginger, sliced

1 lemon, washed and halved

Handful or two of egg noodles (optional)

Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a dutch oven or similar heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. 
2. Sauté the onions and ginger with some salt until the onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. 
3. Add celery and carrots and sauté for a few minutes. 
4. Add a few grinds of pepper, bouillon cubes and water, turn up heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately turn down to medium-low. Squeeze the lemon juice into the pot, drop in the lemon halves and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 12-15 minutes. 
5. Meanwhile, shred the chicken. 
6. Bring back to the boil, toss in noodles and chicken and cook until noodles are ready, according to package instructions. 
7. Serve immediately. 

This soup will last a couple days and tastes even better when reheated the next day. Don't discard those yummy, flavor-releasing lemons halves until the soup is all gone. If you want it even brothier, just add more water and bouillon to suit your tastes. I hope you won't need this anytime soon, but if you do, get well! xo

PS - Our Vidis Kochtüte sack arrived last night. So beautifully presented and we can't wait to share that with you later this week. :)