I started to feel lousy the day after Thanksgiving (stuffy head, dry throat, tired), and I've been eating a lot of chicken soup (chicken noodle soup, specifically), and I was wondering why we are supposed to eat the stuff when we are sick and why I immediately craved it once I got sick. Does it really have the power to cure you, or is it just an old wive's tale passed down through the decades?

Yahoo! Answers has the, well, answer. Sort of. There is no conclusive proof that chicken soup helps when you're sick, but Dr. Stephen Rennard tested his grandma's recipe and came to the conclusion that the soup inhibits inflammation in the nasal cavity. Drkoop.com and others say it has amino acids that help. Another doc says that it creates mucus that soothes the throat. Mmmmm...think of that the next time you're eating chicken soup. I've also heard that the starch in the noodles helps in some way.

Me? I just think it tastes really good, and really makes me feel good when I'm sick, especially on a chilly, late fall day.

Soup is supposed to be winter food, warming you up on a cold day. I know it's summer and I know it's hot, but this bowl of Kitchen Sink Minestrone from Vegancore looks unbelievably good. Besides - eating hot food is supposed to make you feel cooler, isn't it? The soup is easy to make and, as if the name isn't a giveaway, it has a lot of ingredients: zucchini, carrots, peppers, garlic, potato, green beans, onions, kidney beans, tomatoes and pasta. I'm sure I left out a few ingredients there, but the point is that all these are either summer vegetables or pantry staples. Hot or not, it makes a tasty dinner and the leftovers are just as good - especially because leftovers mean that you won't have to heat up the kitchen by cooking anything else.