Chicken Soup for What Ails You.

My dear friend Heidi just had a little minor surgery, but unfortunately developed a slight cold afterwards. You know what they say about hospitals though; you're oft to catch something from there that you didn't have when you went in.

I've made her a chicken soup before, using egg noodles, but I wanted her to have something a bit more special. She deserves it for all the pain from the surgery anyway. So here's the recipe for my Chicken Tortellini Soup.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tsp salt
water
1-32 oz can of chicken broth (low sodium)
2 cups water (if using dried pasta, increase to 4 cups)
½ cup each diced onions, celery and red bell pepper
1 cup frozen crinkle cut carrots, thawed to room temperature
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed, dried thyme leaves
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp crushed, dried marjoram leaves
1 lb package of either frozen or dried cheese tortellini


Preparation:

Place the chicken in a small pan, sprinkle on the salt and cover with water; on high heat, let the chicken cook for 7 minutes. Remove from pan, rinse with cold water and dice up the chicken; set aside. If chicken is slightly undercooked, it will finish cooking in skillet later on.

In a large stock pot, combine broth, water, onions, celery, bell pepper, carrots, black pepper and thyme; cook for 20 minutes on medium heat. Raise heat to high and bring to a rolling boil.

While waiting for broth to boil, place diced chicken in a large skillet, over high heat and add paprika and marjoram leaves; cook for 2 minutes, more if slightly undercooked from before. Add the tortellini to the now boiling broth; if frozen, cook 7 minutes; if dried, cook 11 minutes. Add the chicken and let cook another two minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour