Beat the winter blues with a bowl of soup

If you’re suffering from a cold or flu, there is literally nothing nicer than a giant bowl of soothing chicken broth.

Why is it so good for you?

Rich in vitamins and minerals and filled with goodness from the bones and vegetables, it also keeps you hydrated and can even help with nasal congestion. Plus it’s good for gut and skin health and helps your joints as collagen does.

Chicken broth

You’ll need: 1 cooked chicken carcass; 1 large onion, roughly chopped; 2 carrots, peeled and chopped; 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped; 1 bay leaf; 2 good-quality vegetable stock cubes; 940ml water To finish the broth: 2 carrots, peeled and sliced; 2 spring onions, finely chopped; 2 celery stalks, finely chopped; salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; fresh parsley, chopped, to serve.

How to:

To make the stock, remove and shred the leftover bits of chicken from the carcass. Cover and refrigerate.

Put the carcass and the chopped vegetables into a pot, add the stock cubes and enough water to cover the chicken.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about two hours, skimming any fat off the surface.

Remove the stock from the heat and strain it through a sieve so that you are left with a liquid broth. Discard the vegetables and bay leaf.

Put the broth and second lot of vegetables into a pot and simmer on low heat for about an hour.

Add the shredded chicken to your broth about 10 minutes before it’s ready. Season and sprinkle with parsley.

Serve in lovely big soup bowls or mugs.  

Cook’s tips

• If you want to add noodles, use angel hair pasta or rice noodles and put them in about 20 minutes before the end of cooking.
• You can add any other vegetables you have in the fridge too: baby marrow, broccoli and spinach are perfect.
• Don’t add too much salt. Taste first.
• You can change the aromatics of your broth and substitute the herbs you would usually use with ginger and turmeric.