How to make chicken noodle soup for your nerd in 100 degree weather

My nerd was sick.

He came down with something at Gencon, or perhaps I brought it home from Blogher (I later got it myself) We’ll never know.

All I know is I had a sick nerd at home drinking OJ out of his Star Wars cups, who needed some TLC.

And some soup.

There was only one problem.

It was 100 degrees outside. Who in their right mind makes chicken noodle soup in that kind of heat?

Queen of Quirky. That’s who.

Sooooo….I may have taken a few short cuts.

Because this is not your slow-cooked, simmer-all-day variety of soup. Nope. This is make-it-as-fast-as-you-can-before-you-melt soup.

Which meant, the first short cut was to purchase a rotisserie chicken and some pre-made chicken broth.

Now normally these things are death to homemade soup. But in my steamy August soup-cooking universe, they were essential to surviving the process.

The second thing was to shed as many layers of clothing as possible. I mean, you could get naked if you wanted to. It certainly wouldn’t hurt things. But, for modesty’s sake, let’s just say you put on a cami and sleeping shorts.

Next, you must cover your sick (sleeping) nerd and crank up the A.C.

Don’t forget to turn your house back to a normal functioning temperature after the stove has been turned off and the soup has been put in the fridge (to be enjoyed by you when you get sick the next day.)

Finally, you are ready to make soup. Make it, I say! Fast, before you change your mind and say, “screw it, I’m making chicken salad like a normal person in August heat.”

Queen of Quirky’s Quick August Chicken Noodle Soup

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, minced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 (whole) stalks of celery chopped

2 carrots chopped

32 oz of low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon of savory seasoning

1 tablespoon parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leafs

salt & pepper to taste

1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed, meat removed and chunked (or shredded. I prefer chunks in my soup.)

1/2 -3/4 of a bag of egg noodles. (10 oz bag, I think. But really, just put as many noodles as you like. My soup was extra noodley because I was in denial that I was actually making soup in the summer, so I pretended it was pasta with a bit of broth.)

In a soup pot (hello, old friend!) sautee the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Then add the garlic, carrot and celery and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the broth and herbs. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. At this point, you could simmer for a while (for deeper flavor), or you could add your chicken and noodles and bring back up to a boil for about 8 minutes, or until the noodles are done.

Remove your bay leaves and serve. Or, keep on the stove for more flavor.

Serve to your nerd. With more orange juice.