Zesty tortilla soup. Photo: umamigirl, Flickr.

In a refreshing alternative to the tired go-to chicken soup, tortilla soup is just as simple a concoction thanks to the addition of a few lively ingredients, namely jalapeno, lime, cilantro and tomatillos. Here, Flickr user umamigirl prepared Serious Eat's "kitchen sink style" Quick Tortilla Soup recipe, which we can only hope to be as gloriously colorful in flavor as it is in appearance.

Though this tortilla soup makes use of a plethora of ingredients, the beauty of the brothy soup is its flexibility, both in terms of taste as well as the clever cook's "what-do-I-have-on-hand-that-may-go-bad" approach. Have an affinity to garlic? Throw in as many cloves as your heart desires. Are there bell peppers going soft? Toss them in at liberty. Distaste for cilantro? Substitute some parsley in its place. Either way, with a base as simple as a can of diced tomatoes, broth and cooked chicken, tossing in whatever additional ingredients you crave guarantees to lead to a delicious bowl of soup.

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For the past three weeks, I've been fighting off a case of bronchitis. Having the amazing partner that I do, he took care of me every night. For the first week, all I craved was chicken soup. Luckily, he has a quick recipe he cooks up that keeps me happy during a not-so-fun time for foodies. Sadly, I got him sick over the weekend and since then, I have been trying to perfect the perfect pot of chicken soup.

I know there have been several posts on Slashfood on trying to perfect this wonder. I recently posted a tip on how to increase the flavor in your broth, which I came across in Cook's Illustrated. With him sick and myself recovering, I decided to take on this task. The results were conclusive, using ground chicken maximizes the amount of flavor extraction in the shortest period of time (and after a long day at work, shorter is better).

Do you have a recipe that you swear by for chicken soup when you get sick? If so, how do you take it -- rice or noodles, chunks of chicken or shredded? The only thing I constantly do is cook the pasta separately and add it into each bowl before ladling in the soup -- I HATE soggy noodles!

Most of the east coast has been getting walloped by snow and rain since sometime over the weekend (it started last night here in Philly). While it hasn't closed down the city entirely, schools are closed and lots of folks are working from home instead of facing the messy commute. My office is pleasantly quiet, with about half the staff at their desks.

During a snowstorm, there's nothing I like to eat for dinner more than a big bowl of soup. However, since I'm working today, there's no time for a pot of something long-simmered. So tonight, I'm going to make a batch of cheater's chicken soup. It's nothing more than a bunch of sauteed veggies that then get simmered in boxed chicken stock. When it's bubbling nicely, I drop in pieces of thinly sliced chicken breast and let them quickly cook in the broth. Last, I toss in some cooked pasta or rice for a starch and call it dinner. It's fast and tastes good. What more can you ask!

Is your chicken broth not as flavorful as you would like? Check out this helpful tip.

I've always been pretty good with leftovers. I always make soup out of roast chicken remains and I have a passing understanding of how to transform bits of one meal into something fresh and interesting for the next. However, at the end of each week, I still find myself throwing out more uneaten food than I'd like. In general, I dislike the waste but more poignantly, I regret depriving the ingredients of their potential (especially when I toss animal products).

However, this week, inspired by this post about food waste at the Non-Consumer Advocate, I managed to avoid waste where I might have otherwise tossed. I made a big pot of chicken soup, using up an aging hunk of red cabbage (once cooked, it was impossible to tell that it was a bit wilted), several bits of half-used onion and most happily, a painfully stale six-inch chunk of seeded baguette. I broke the bread into bits, placed some of it into the bottom of the bowls and ladled the soup on top. The once-stale bread became silky and tender, adding a lovely texture and taste to the meal.

How do you avoid food waste in your kitchen?

Last week, after posting about Eudora Welty's description of champagne as a folk medicine, I started thinking more about the medicinal power of food and drink. We foodies talk a lot about comfort food, which connotes more of a psychological palliative, hangover cures and foods that contribute to life-long health. But what about the quick fixes we seek to alleviate colds, coughs, fevers, and flus?

I bet each one of you can think of a couple foods or drinks that you reach for when you're under the weather. For many, it might be the old standby of chicken soup -- but I'm interested in that special, personal twist on the soup that you believe makes all the difference. To me, it's the side dish that always accompanied the soup when I was home from school with some ailment: one slice of soft sandwich bread, un-toasted, generously buttered and folded in half. Couldn't be more simple or more welcome. The beverage of choice was orange juice with plenty of ice (I normally drank apple juice with no ice), and dessert, invariably, was red Jell-O.

My guess is that many of you, like me, imported your food cures from childhood. Then again, maybe some of you have discovered new remedies. Do tell!

Even though mercury dipping below 72 degrees might make some shiver around these parts, it's still not very cold and wintry in Janaury in southern California.

But still, the calendar and the short daylight hours indicate that its winter, and that makes me want to curl up in a blanket by the fireplace with something warm and comforting to eat - even if that means the fireplace isn't on and I have to wear shorts and a tank top inside my blanket, sweating with my bowl of chicken soup.

Chicken soup is awesome, and just about every culture, cuisine, country has a version of soup with broth based on a bird and brimming with meat, vegetables, and almost always, some sort of carbohydrate, whether it's a noodle, a dumpling, or a matzo ball.  

1. Sahm-gyae-tahng is a Korean soup made by cooking a small chicken stuffed with sweet rice, dates and ginger until it falls apart in the pot.
2. Tom yum kai is the spicy chicken and mushroom soup redolent with lemongrass from Thailand. I am not a huge fan of Thai food (because I actually don't like lemongrass), but can always get by when a group goes out to eat because of this soup. 
3. Matzo ball soup is also known as Jewish penicillin. I love the time and care that goes into making the little matzo balls, and of course, since many of the delis in this area are open into the wee hours of the morning, I associate matzo ball soup with "hangover cure."
4. Good ol' chicken noodle soup is where it all began. My first experiences have always been from that red and white can, and I'm certain I've had that neon yellow powdered crap on a ski trip once, so I think this means that some time very soon, I will be trying my hand at this classic.
5. Tortilla soup is one of my favorites, though I have to wonder how healthy this "chicken soup" ends up being for me after adding guacamole, sour cream, and deep fried tortilla strips on top as "garnishes."

That's all the chicken soups I can think of for now, but I am sure there are more from all over the planet. I just have to find them before Spring time.