Something dark was lurking on Saturday morning... I woke up stuffed up, hot, shivering, and sniffling. A cold was on the horizon and I was very unhappy about it. So naturally I got a lot of rest and made a big pot of nutrient-rich chicken soup. No boxed stock here, this was all natural. And here's how I did it...

This recipe is free from dairy, nuts, peanuts, egg, soy, fish, shellfish

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped
3 stems of celery (leaves on)
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 zucchini, diced
3 yukon gold potatoes, diced
10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of pastina made from 100$ durum wheat semolina (small cut pasta such as bow ties or straight noodles)

Method
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until it becomes fragrant. Season well with salt and pepper. Then add in the carrots, celery, and red pepper and continue to cook until they become translucent and browned. Season again.

Add the potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and parsley and mix well. Drop the chicken breasts (whole) on top. Fill the pot with water until there are about 3 inches of liquid above the chicken, then bring to a boil on high heat.

Reduce to medium heat and let simmer with the lid askew for an hour. Remove the lid and let simmer on medium-low heat for at least another hour. It should have reduced quite a bit. Stir often.

About 20 minutes before serving remove the chicken and shred using 2 forks. Add it back to the pot along with the pastina. Stir well.

Serve as soon as pasta is cooked. It should yield 6 - 8 hearty bowls