Here's the Dish: Chicken, Lemon and Rice Soup

This is an old standby that is often served in my house. After eating this soup numerous times at a favorite local diner, I began making it at home. The recipe is simple and basic, and the end result is the ultimate in comfort food. The recipe that follows can easily be tailored to your liking. For instance, I use brown rice, more vegetables, and about half the amount of lemon juice than it calls for. Whatever your personal preference, I think you'll really love this soup!

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

1/3 cup rice, uncooked

1/3 cup carrot, diced

1/3 cup celery, chopped

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 cup chicken, cubed and cooked

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

3 eggs

3 tablespoons lemon juice

salt and pepper

lemon slice (optional)

sliced green onion or parsley (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine chicken broth, bouillon cube, rice, carrots, celery and onion.

2. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice and vegetables are tender.

4. Stir in chicken.

5. Remove from heat.

6. In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour until smooth.

7. Gradually add 2 cups of broth mixture, cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.

8. In a small bowl, beat the eggs until frothy.

9. Gradually beat lemon juice and 2 cups thickened broth into the large pot of soup.

10. Very slowly add egg mixture into the soup, stirring constantly. Do not do this if your soup is boiling or very hot or your eggs will split. You may want to take the soup off the burner for a few minutes before you add the eggs.

11. Heat gently until soup thickens enough to coat a spoon--do not boil!

12. Add salt and pepper to taste, garnish with lemon.

Serves 4-6

Cold Weather Comfort Food

Soup is a favorite of mine, no matter what the season. With below average temps in the mid-30's and days at a time of nothing but gray skies, it seemed like the perfect time to whip up a batch of homemade chicken soup recently. The best sounding recipe I found was the one below, which is adapted from Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade Cooking". The best part about it is that it can be made in a Slow Cooker ~ the busy gal's best friend ~ hurrah!

The recipe suggests using one of those store bought Rotissierie chickens ~ which is a great time saver, if you happen to have one on hand. I did even better than that, by using two large cans of Premium chunk chicken. It was more than enough to make the soup very "chicken-y", and I swear on my life that you could not tell it was canned chicken.

The measurements below yield one large crock full of soup, or roughly 8 servings.

Lazy Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (from a store bought chicken)

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup carrot, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

4 (14 ounce) cans low sodium chicken broth

2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (with roasted garlic)

2 teaspoons assorted herbs (chives, parsley, and tarragon) salt

pepper, to taste

2 cups egg noodles, cooked

Directions:

1. Remove skin from the chicken and chop the meat.

2. Put the chicken into a slow cooker with the onions, celery, carrots and peas.

3. Stir in broth, mushroom soup, and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 8 to 9 hours.

5. When soup is finished, stir in egg noodles.

6. Season to taste and serve.