Sometimes, you just gotta stick to the basics.  You’ll be hard pressed to find many folks who don’t like chicken noodle soup, kids included.  If you’re a true Southerner like me, you’ll sprinkle in a few saltine crackers before going in for the slurp.  Cold January days inspire me to make soups and I do love experimenting with exotic and interesting hot concoctions.  But sometimes, I just want a quick comfort food lunch for family or friends and this is a winner.    You’ll notice that I don’t recommend boiling the chicken.  I think boiled chicken is just plain dry and gross unless it’s boiled as part of the stock-making process.  When a recipe calls for cooked chicken (especially white meat chicken), I bake it with olive oil, salt and pepper and then chop it up.

Note:  If you are not planning to eat the soup right away or think you’ll have a lot left over, cook the noodles separately and add with the chicken just before serving.  You don’t want noodles sitting around in hot broth getting soggy.