Instructions: Remake of the classic clear broth chicken and noodles soup. A base recipe: vary by adding garlic, peas, carrots, parsley, mushrooms or your choice of herbs or oil.

1. Heat a three-quart nonstick saucepan to medium-high. Meanwhile, rub or spray the mild olive on the "skin" side of each breast fillet. Place chicken, "skin" side down in the preheated saucepan. Brown, adjusting heat to "caramelize" one side, then the other; about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Make room in the pan and add the shallots, onions and celery and cook but do not brown the vegetables for one to two minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients except the noodles. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken; let rest a few minutes; then chop or shred into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken to the pan along with the cooked and drained noodles. Adjust seasoning to taste. When the noodles are hot, serve.

Prep:10 min.; Cook: 40 min.; Makes six cups. EACH 2-CUP Serving: 248

STORY: Consumer Reports (Nov 98) offered a recipe for a better chicken noodle soup than the pre-packaged ones they reviewed: better tasting and healthier. Their recipe used one 3/4-pound chicken breast with skin, condensed chicken broth, and regular noodles, boiled in the soup. They claimed that the soup made 6.5 cups, each cup 105 calories without fillets on hand so I compensated for the missing skin and bone with butter buds, bouillon granules and soy sauce. Another difference: we we didnt reboil the soup to cook the noodles so the broth was almost crystal clear - the way Bob likes it. "Do It Again!" -pat

NOTES : Bob really liked this. Base recipe. -pat

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