THE CHICKEN SOUP CURE

You don’t have to read the newspaper to know that 2020 is shaping up to be a pretty bad cold and flu season.

Just look around you, people! Doesn’t it seem like everyone and his brother is either coughing, sneezing, sniffling, dabbing their runny noses with a balled-up tissue, or just generally looking sick and miserable?

In Allegheny County alone, doctors have confirmed more than 10,161 flu cases as of last week, or a whopping 40 percent of the 25,362 cases across the entire state. If you haven’t yet invested in a bottle of hand sanitizer or gotten a flu shot, now’s probably the time.

Despite those precautions, I’ve felt crummy since well before Christmas. A steady diet of Alka Seltzer Plus during the day and Nyquil at night has failed to chase away a lingering chest cold, and it’s making me really cranky. Plus, it has pretty much killed my enthusiasm for both cooking and eating.

If you or someone you love is under the weather, no doubt you can relate. Almost no one feels like consuming a big solid meal when he or she’s sick even though it is the time when the body needs some TLC in the form of good nutrition. It’s even more of a challenge if you don’t have anyone to take care of you, and you have to drag your weary, aching body to the kitchen and prepare lunch or dinner yourself.

Single or otherwise, there is a simple home remedy for all that ails you during cold and flu season, and it comes in the way of a steaming bowl of chicken soup.

Chicken soup’s restorative powers have been a thing of lore for

centuries. The 12th-century Jewish philosopher and physician Maimonides was an early believer in it. In his book, “On the Cause of Symptoms,” he claims that the clear broth made from hens and other fowl would “neutralize body constitution.” He also believed it could help cure those afflicted with asthma or leprosy.

In the 1990s, University of Nebraska Medical Center physician and researcher, Stephen Rennard, attempted to prove the medicinal value of chicken soup, using a recipe handed down to his wife from her Lithuanian grandmother. While the results published in the medical journal Chest were inconclusive, the investigation did little to diminish the soup’s reputation as a cold and flu miracle worker. Even today, the golden broth known colloquially as “Jewish penicillin” is touted for its ability to soothe a sore throat, help clear sinuses and reduce upper respiratory cold symptoms.

Chalk it up to its comforting aroma or the warm childhood memories of having it on sick days and not going to school, but chicken soup just makes you feel better.

Luckily chicken soup is fairly easy to make if you allow yourself the convenience of using quality chicken broth or stock and meat from a rotisserie chicken. So easy, in fact, that you can do it in your bathrobe and slippers in between binge-watching your fa-vorite Netflix shows.

The soup is wonderful on its own, but the cold weather classic usually also includes noodles. I prefer kluski, but really, any type of pasta works. Just be sure not to let it simmer in the soup for too long before serving or it may become overly soft and mushy. You also can add white, brown or wild rice.

You can change the soup even more with a few twists. The key ingredient in addition to the base soup will be your imagination.

Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette photos 1. For a spicy kick, stir in a couple heaping tablespoons of kimchi or hot salsa into the soup before serving, or drizzle with Sriracha. 2. Make it silky with light wisps of egg. Whisk 2 eggs with 1 teaspoon cornstarch in a small bowl. Swirl simmering soup with a large spoon, then drizzle the egg mixture into the broth, stirring often after a few seconds to break up the egg strands. Garnish with chopped scallion. 3. For a Southwestern feel, add ½ cup of roasted corn and ½ cup of fire-roasted tomatoes. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro. 4. Sneak in some leafy greens like spinach, chopped kale, spicy mustard greens or chard into the broth before adding the noodles and simmer until the greens are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. The greens are packed with minerals, vitamins and fiber. 5. Add some plant-based protein. Stir in 1 cup of canned white beans, such as cannellini, Great Northern or butter beans. Chicken noodle soup can be enhanced with add-ins including (top to bottom) roasted corn and tomatoes, spinach, kimchi, egg and white beans.