The Evolution of Chicken Noodle Soup

Picture it. Your teacher let your class out for recess. You race to your locker and bundle up for the cold. Snowpants? Check. Scarf? Check. Gloves? Check. Boots? Coat? Hat? Check, check, and check.

As you and other kids play in the snow, you sneeze. You don't think anything of it. You're too excited about joining the other kids to build a snowman. How many snowmen can you make before the whistle blows today? You won't know if you keep dwelling on your sneeze.

After school, you start sniffing, and you're feeling tired. When you're not sniffing, you're wiping your nose. Why won't your nose stop running? You eat whatever Mom makes, and you go to bed.

Late that night, you're running to Mom's room. Something doesn't feel right. You don't feel good, but you don't know why. Mom calms you down, carries you back to bed, and takes your temperature.

"No school for you tomorrow," she says. She shakes the thermometer and tucks you into bed.

The next day, Mom stays home with you. She gives you gross-tasting medicine then makes you lunch. The smell tells you it's the best food you can get when you're sick. Homemade chicken noodle soup. The smell alone makes you feel better. That first bite tells you how much love she put into that batch. You finish the whole bowl and feel a lot better.

By the end of the week, it's like you never had the flu.

Fast forward to college years, and it feels like you're getting sick every weekend. It's a mix between not eating enough fruits and vegetables and not giving yourself proper rest.

Mom's not around to cook chicken noodle soup this time. So you buy a can and warm it up, yourself. The tiny chicken pieces and noodles don't look as appetizing that the vegetable-filled bowls you're used to at home. It's not as good as homemade, but it still does the job.

Later that year, still in college, you start dating. And your newest partner loves to cook. And for that year, you're eating well! They notice your love of soup and teach you how to make some of your favorites. Now you won't have to wait until you're home to have your favorite soup.

It takes forever to make the soups, yourself. But when your sick, you have someone coming over to make them for you.

The two of you didn't stay together, thank goodness. But you did learn a skill from this one.

The older you get, the less you get sick. Maybe it's years of making soup your go-to medicine? Is it years of living abroad? At this point, it doesn't matter why your immune system is so strong. You end up making chicken noodle soup for comfort.

Then your mother buys you an InstantPot months before a global pandemic hits the world. You try making chicken noodle soup, and it's the easiest recipe you made so far.

Perfect for when you finally get hit with COVID-19. Then you make enough to last you for a week.

• A stalk of celery
• A medium onion
• Four chopped carrots
• 8 cups of chicken broth
• Minced garlic
• Basil, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper
• Noodles
• Butter
• Boneless chicken breast, chopped and cooked

Melt the butter, sautee the vegetables, season the spices, and cook in the Instant Pot. It takes more time to prepare than to cook. You used to wait for hours for a giant pot of soup. Now, you're waiting for less than an hour.

For the week, your symptoms stayed mild. Could it be the power of the soup? Maybe. You could've had a placebo effect because of so much faith in one dish. You may never know.

And you don't need to analyze everything. If a bowl of soup helps you feel better, make yourself a bowl. If a can of Vernors helps your stomach, drink it. Spicy food for hangovers? Sure!

As long as you're happy with your methods, there's no need to interrupt them.