Chicken Risotto Soup

I have been CRAVING soup like crazy lately! This soup really hit the spot and provided leftovers for lunch for about 3 days...and I didn't even get tired of it! It tasted better each day as the flavors melded together. I did simmer it for about 10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for, the rice was still a little too hard after 15 min. I made these garlic cheese biscuits while the soup simmered, or add some oyster crackers (my kid's favorite!) and voila! Your dinner is DONE!

*You could make this corn-free by using a corn-free thickener instead of cornstarch, or no thickener at all and it'll taste great!

Creamy Chicken & Rice Soup

(courtesy of: Allrecipes.com)

Preparation: fairly easy, only took about 20 minutes to prep, and about 25 minutes to cook)

Serves: about 6
My review:
Sweetpea has been suffering from a really long cold/cough, so I decided to try the old chicken soup trick. She liked it, especially having the freedom to add her own little oyster crackers. Sweetpea loves rice, and noodley soup can get so messy, this was a good one for her to manage independently.

Surprisingly, Pumpkin was not too impressed. He's a texture guy and doesn't too much enjoy food of the soup/casserole variety. Likes his foods separated, thank you very much.

I really enjoyed the flavors of lemon and white cooking wine, these gave it a little kick! Not super creamy, but overall good. I give it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. chopped carrot
• 1/3 c. finely chopped onion
• 1/3 c. chopped celery (omitted this)
• 2 T. butter
• 1/4 c. All-purpose flour ( used unbleached)
• 2-14.5 oz cans reduced sodium chicken broth (used one carton) (some varieties are gluten-free and some are not)
• 2 c. cooked long-grain (used brown) rice
• 1 c. cooked and cubed (cut to same size as chopped carrots) boneless-skinless chicken breasts (about 2)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1/8 t. garlic powder
• 1 c. 2% milk
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 T. white wine

Instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, saute the carrot, onion and celery in butter until tender.
2. Stir in the flour until blended (to coat veggies).
3. Gradually stir in broth.
4. Add rice, chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder; bring to a boil.
5. Reduceheat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or untl vegetables are tender. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the milk, lemon juice and wine, if desired. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until heated through.