Anti-Viral Vegetable Soup with Chicken

This is my current version of a soup I've made many times for people who were sick as well as those of us who want to do all we can to stay healthy.  I never use a specific recipe, so it's never the same twice.  However, it's really important to include lots of greens, garlic, onion, lemon and good healthy broth.  Use this as a guide to make you own healthy version.  I wasn't going to add tomatoes, but when they're cooked, they're high in lycopene, which is another good compound to add to this fresh anti-viral mix.

To start this, chop, then slow-sautéed 4 skinny, dark green stalks of celery, 2 big carrots and a little yellow and purple onion in 2T of avocado oil. As it begins to sizzle, sprinkle with finely ground black and cayenne pepper. Sauté for just a few minutes to release the flavors a bit. Add the rest of the vegetables, chopped or sliced the way you like. Peel the ginger, slice it very thin, then mince it. I used about 3T of minced ginger. With all the vegetables in the pot, lots of fresh cold water, ½T Old Bay Garlic and Herb seasoning, 1t ground rosemary, 4-5T Better than Bouillon. As you can see below, it completely filled an 8 quart pot!

After simmering everything, for 20 minutes, take the garlic out and let it cool.  I only used 2 bulbs for a total of 22 big cloves.  These will go in at the very end for just a few minutes of simmering along with the chopped, precooked chicken and a half bunch of chopped Italian parsley.  There wasn't room for the rice noodles this time.

I also started with the zest and juice of only one big lemon.  When I try this later, if the lemon is too weak, I'll add the juice of the second one and simmer the zest for a couple minutes in a little water before putting that in the soup.

After everything's had time to simmer and blend flavors in the pot, share some with your friends and family. In a health crisis, we need to take care of one another! Have a big steamy bowl of this, at least once a day, for as long as it lasts. . .Then make another big pot! Have fun with your Soup Adventures!
Stay Healthy Everyone! Wash Your Hands and Eat Lots of Good Soup! .🍜. .Lin