Chicken Soup

My boyfriend has Man Flu. When I was sympathising with his symptoms, saying, "I know, that's exactly how I felt last week." He said, shocked, "Oh really?! I didn't know it was this bad!" Well, no, he wouldn't have known, because I was a woman about it! So last night, I made him hearty, healthy chicken soup. There are so many recipe variations out there, but here's a pretty simple one – recommended by the patient!

Ingredients:

• Pack of chicken breasts
• 2 Medium white onions
• 2 Sticks of celery
• Punnet of mushrooms
• Packet of mushroom soup
• Garlic
• Flat leaf parsley
• Thyme, fresh or dried
• 2 Bay leaves
• Egg noodles
• Salt and black pepper

How to make:
Heat the oven to 180ºC. In an oven-proof dish, place the chicken breasts, drizzled with olive oil, salt, thyme and crushed garlic. Roast for about 30 minutes, until tender. Set aside to rest. In the meantime, finely chop the onions and let them simmer and soften gently with a bit of oil in your soup pot. Add the chopped celery and do the same. When softened, add two cloves of crushed garlic and mushrooms. Allow the mushrooms to soften and release their juices, and add about 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Mix the packet soup with boiling water and add about 6 cups of water (depending on your taste and consistency preference). Stir in the shredded chicken, bay leaves and the noodles. Allow to simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, until the noodles are ready. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir in some more chopped parsley and serve.