Below is the food recipe from Gourmetmomma’s Blog. It is the recipe of Chicken and rice soup. It is described in a good order so that it is easy to practice.
GP wasn’t feeling well today, so I started out to make him some Chicken Tortellini Soup. There’s some wisdom in the classic “chicken soup for sick people” thing, go google it and see for yourself. The problem was, I didn’t have any tortellini, and I was not in the mood to drive 5 miles to get to the grocery store that was only a mile away (floods - creeks rise - bridges close - bad traffic - not fun). So, I morphed it into chicken and rice soup. This would make a wonderful chicken tortellini soup, or even chicken noodle soup too! You pick the starch, it will work.
I started with some fresh veggies. I used carrots, celery, green beans, white onion, and green onion (saved until the end). I chopped them into small bite sized pieces, and I used about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of each veggie. I should probably confess an almost pathological compulsion to peel all my carrots, regardless of the application. If you are in a hurry (or not up to cooking), you could certainly use a can of veg-all or some frozen mixed veggies in place of the fresh ones. It won’t be as good, but it will still make you feel better.
I put all the veggies (except the green onion) in a pot with a little olive oil. Then I cranked up the heat and got some caramelized color on the veggies. I added about 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of dried thyme. (If I were making tortellini soup, i’d use italian seasoning instead of thyme). Once the veggies were soft and showing some signs of golden brown goodness, I added about 5 cups of homemade chicken stock and 1/2 cup of a brown/wild rice mixture. Remember, you could use a cup of tortellini, some pasta, or even just plain minute rice. Cook for as long as the pasta/starch/rice would normally require cooking.
When the rice was done, I tasted the soup. It needed a little salt and pepper, so I added it. Then, I added 1/2 cup of chopped green onions, and about 3/4 cup of chopped pre-cooked chicken meat (leftover from last night’s grilled chicken with grilled veggie pasta dinner).
By waiting until the end to add the chicken, I was able to get big plump moist bites of chicken in the soup instead of flavorless shreds of chewy chicken fiber. This is one of the secrets to making a good soup, and I’m indebted to whatever TV chef first taught this to me. I’d give them creidt, but I can’t remember who I heard it from.
And there you have it… chicken and rice soup in less than 30 minutes. It tasted like I’d slaved in the kitchen for hours, simply because I used a pre-made long cooking stock.
GP said it hit the spot. That was a lunch. By dinner time he was fever free and wanted to out for dinner. NEVER under estimate the power of a good chicken soup.
This was to make a light meal for a sick person… it’s a little light on protein, and extremely low in fat. If I were making this under some other circumstances, I would add a can of canned navy or cannalini beans for additional protein. It would still be chicken soup, just with a few beans added.
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