Recipes are from The Chicken Soup Book, by Janet Hazen. © 1994 by Janet Hazen. Excerpted by arrangement with Chronicle Books. $14.95. Available in bookstores or by calling 800-722-6657.

As an antidote for colds and flu, depression, bad report cards, upset stomachs, cramps, political unrest, allergies, bronchitis, arthritis, and hangnails, a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup is cherished in most every part of the world. Whether it be a soup made from velvety strands of delicate white meat floating in a fragrant broth studded with fresh corn, asparagus, and a hint of soy sauce, or a hearty soup thick with plump chick-peas, black olives, chunks of tender dark meat, garlic, and rosemary, chicken soup is clearly a universal cure-all. If in fact "Jewish penicillin" doesn't solve life's most stubborn problems, it at least relieves many of the symptoms.