Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

Black pepper is available whole, crushed or ground into powder. Ensure best flavor, purchase whole peppercorns and grind them yourself in a mill just before adding to a recipe. In addition to superior flavor, buying whole peppercorns will help to ensure that you are purchasing unadulterated pepper since ground pepper is oftentimes mixed with other spices. Whole peppercorns should be heavy, compact and free of any blemishes.

Even through dried herbs and spices like black pepper are widely available in supermarkets, you may want to explore the local spice stores in your area. Oftentimes, these stores feature an expansive selection of dried herbs and spices that are of superior quality and freshness than those offered in regular markets. Just like with other dried spices, when purchasing black pepper try to select that which is organically grown since this will give you more assurance that it has not been irradiated, among other potential adverse effects, irradiating black pepper may lead to a significant decrease in its vitamin C content.

Black pepper should be kept in a tightly sealed glass container in a cool, dark and dry place. Whole peppercorns will keep almost indefinitely, while ground pepper will stay fresh for about three months. Pepper can also be frozen although this will make its flavor more pronounced.

Research Source: WH Foods

This is comfort food from my childhood. It’s beautiful, quick, and simple homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

Copyrighted 2013, Christine’s Pantry. All rights reserved.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 large carrots, chopped

1 onion, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

2 (32 oz.) container chicken broth

2 1/2 cups wide egg noodles, uncooked

2 pounds chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 bay leaves

chopped parsley, garnish

Directions:

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add carrots, onions, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Add egg noodles, stir, and cook according to package directions. Then add chicken pieces, garlic and bay leaves, cook 4 to 5 minutes, until noodles are tender and chicken cooked through. Garnish with parsley. Enjoy!