While chicken soup for your soul is a good thing, chicken soup for your stomach is a delicious thing – and in my book that’s just a little bit better.

I confess to not being the best at cooking soups (yet!) but I do have a foolproof recipe for chicken soup that is tasty and doesn’t take long to prepare. Now that the temperatures have dipped into the freezing range, I consider this essential eating. As an additional upshot, a big pot of soup can last and last, providing a delicious lunch or dinner for days.

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To feed two you’ll need:

1. Four large carrots
2. Three medium-sized parsnips
3. Two large medium-sized Idaho potatoes
4. One small yellow onion
5. Two large containers of chicken broth
6. Chicken thighs or drumsticks. Lately I’ve been using Harvest Valley thighs because they have a lot of flavor and are both antibiotic- and hormone-free. (Skinless or not, is up to you. However, when I don’t buy skinless, I cook with it on and then remove before eating. Do what makes your stomach happy!)
7. Optional: Egg noodles

Step One: Put a large pot of water on to boil. While you wait, peel and slice the parsnips, carrots, onions and potatoes. Set them aside.

Step Two: Once water is boiling, drop in the chicken and cook until there is no pink.

Step Three: Dump out approximately half of the water in the pot and add all the veggies. Pour over one container of the chicken broth, dipping into the second container if the pot is not full. (Keeping the water retains some of the juices that flowed out of the chicken while it was boiling but replaces it with a more powerful chicken flavor.)

Step Four: As water/broth boils off, keep replacing it with broth from the second container. Meanwhile, if you are cooking egg noodles as an accompaniment start them (with the soup or in a separate pot, up to you) when you have about 15 minutes left to go.

Once the veggies are soft, you’re done! Happy eating!