‘Tis the season

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Cold, cold go away. Come again another day. We just want to enjoy our Christmas Day.

I’ve been able to avert the cold so far (thanks to Cold FX) but Dan has been battling the darn virus since Thursday. I made this chicken soup for us last Thursday night. It’s easy to make and quite yummy, according to my now-recovering half. There’s no need to slave over making chicken stock–who can do that if you’re already sick?

So for all those who are not feeling well, we’re thinking of you today. Feel better. Have some soup! And enjoy the holidays!

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

~ 1.2 lb of thin chicken breasts (sometimes they come in ‘butterfly’ form)
1 1/2 14-oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
1 medium sized russet potato, cut into 1/2-inch dices
2 stalks of celery, sliced
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cups of wild rice blend, half-cooked in rice cooker or stove [You can use another kind of rice you prefer.]
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup cilantro, divided
freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. soy sauce of your choice for flavor (I used Aloha Shoyu sauce from an Asian store)
salt
water

Procedure:

1) Boil chicken broth with 1 cup water, smashed cloves of garlic, onions, 1 tsp salt, and freshly ground pepper.

2) Add chicken breasts and cook for 10 minutes (or until chicken meat is almost cooked throughout that you can pull the meat apart). The chicken will be almost submerged in the broth. If not, add more water and chicken broth.

2) Take chicken breasts out. Drain and let cool for a bit.

3) Pour your half cooked rice into the broth. [Half cook it with the full amount of water recommended for the rice. For wild rice blend, it's 1 part rice to 2 parts water.] Add potatoes, the celery, and 1/8 cup cilantro. Let it boil and stir occasionally to keep rice from sticking at the bottom.

4) When chicken breasts are cool enough to handle, pull apart the meat into bite size pieces. Think pull apart chicken meat, with a bit thicker pieces. Drizzle lime juice over it. [Your sick patient will thank you for the easy-t0-eat chicken pieces.]

5) The potatoes should be half cooked by now and the rice almost cooked (about 10 minutes after #3 boils). Add back the chicken pieces, stir. Add soy sauce. Let it boil for another 10 minutes. Make sure the rice is cooked and the potatoes are soft, almost beginning to lose its corners.

6) The soup will be nice and thick. Add water if you like it more watery. Just before you turn off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and the remaining cilantro. Cover and let stand for a few minutes.

7) Serve hot. Feel better!