Cold Weather = Hot Soup

When it is raining really hard, it's chilly, and you're in denial over the end of vacation, here's a good solution... a very flavorful soup, full of vegetables, chicken and rice noodles.

I had some chicken broth I made after having an amazing roast chicken on New Year's Eve. But you could just use canned broth or bouillon cubes if you had to. The flavor comes from the garlic, ginger, soy sauce and mirin. If you don't currently have that in your pantry, you should... it's a great ingredient for salad dressings or just to add some tang to stir fry.

My roommate is fighting a cold, so I'm hoping the combo of ginger and garlic can do some chicken soup magic -- with a little Asian flair.

Happy New Year people. Don't be in denial -- it's gonna be a great year!

Ingredients

• 4 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce (or tamari if you're gluten-free like me)
  
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 cups assorted mushrooms, sliced -- white buttons, oyster, shitake, portobello and crimini; if using shitake, discard stems (I didn't want to venture to the store in the rain, so I used canned mushrooms... shhh....)
  
• 3 cups white cabbage, cut in wedges (I didn't have cabbage, but had half a package of sugar snap peas. Yummy!)
  
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots (barf... I hate carrots. I peeled one into the soup for color)
  
• 2 cups chicken breast, shredded or diced
  
• 2 cups fresh udon noodles or cooked linguine (I used a package of pho noodles -- PERFECT)
  
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions, with some of the green tops
• 2 cups shredded raw spinach or whole baby spinach leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon mirin (sweetened rice wine) (optional)

Directions

In a large pot, combine broth, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots and chicken. Cover. Bring to a boil; simmer until mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in noodles, green onions and spinach; simmer until greens are wilted, about 2 minutes. Season.

(P.S. I got this years ago from the Sunday paper and saved it in my cookbook... but I found it online here.)