Chicken Soup for the Migraineur’s Soul

No, no, that’s literal chicken soup - way better for the soul than any book full of platitudes.

Yesterday at work, like most days for the last 15 or 20 business days, was an exercise in stress and frustration. I need a different job. I was so frustrated I nearly reached for junk from the snack machine. Instead, I came home and made soup. My husband goes straight from work to class on Wednesdays, so on Wednesdays I want something simple and easy for dinner, and last night I wanted comfort food. The recipe below reflects what I had on hand, but chicken soup is forgiving, so vary at your convenience. Same with amounts - I give approximations below, but I didn’t measure anything.

I used homemade chicken stock, and other migraineurs might do well to avoid the canned stuff, too - it’s loaded with MSG and other glutamate-containing substances like hydrolyzed soy protein. For many soup recipes, I think that water can be substituted for stock, but in chicken soup the stock is the most important ingredient.

I can’t say this made me feel any better about work, but chicken soup has associations of love and sympathy and caretaking, even if the person doing the caretaking is oneself!

Chicken Soup for 1

(makes 1 bowl plus a second helping)

1 tablespoon healthy fat (olive oil, coconut oil, chicken or duck fat, butter, or bacon fat are all good - I used duck fat, since there’s still more than a cup of it left from Thanksgiving)
1 small shallot, chopped fine (about a tablespoon)
1 small carrot, diced (about 1/4 cup?)
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cups good quality chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry (el cheapo is fine - save the good stuff for sipping - but avoid cooking sherry, which has salt and god knows what else in it - I use the Taylor $5/bottle stuff)
1 small chunk rutabaga (or turnip), diced (about 1/4 cup?)
1 small chunk celery root, diced (1/4 cup?)
1 clove garlic, minced, pressed, or grated, as you choose
4 to 6 oz. diced leftover chicken
fresh thyme
chopped fresh parsley
herb salt (mine is made of salt, sage, rosemary, and garlic - it’s how I preserve my giant sage harvest every fall)

In a soup pot, sauté shallot, carrot, and celery for a few minutes until soft but not browned. Add stock, sherry, celery root, and rutabaga and bring to a boil; let simmer for a few minutes until the veggies are tender. Stir in chicken, garlic, thyme, and herb salt (or heck, just plain salt plus herbs) and bring back to a boil. Once it’s come to a boil, remove from heat. (The chicken is already cooked, and you don’t want to overcook it, just heat it up.) Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with parsley.