Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

This is the soup I made on Monday. It's an old recipe that I swiped from my other blog. I doubled the recipe, and there was a ton of soup. I guess it's soup season, because I think I'm making soup again next week.

As for the salad, it was just some greens with grated carrots, sunflower seeds, and this simple vinaigrette.



Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 leeks (light green and white parts only) finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup long-grain brown rice, uncooked
8 cups low sodium chicken broth (or more, if you'd like)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas
fresh parsley, chopped

Put the chicken breasts in a big pot and cover them with water. Add a tablespoon of salt, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and allow it to cool, then shred it with 2 forks.

Chop the veggies while the chicken is cooking.

Dump the water from the pot you used to boil the chicken. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in that pot, over medium heat, and add the chopped onion, leeks, and garlic. Cook until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Then add the celery, carrots, and half of the thyme. Cook for another minute or two, then toss in the uncooked brown rice and stir until well combined.* Add the broth, and if you'd like, use an immersion blender to partially puree the veggies (this will thicken the soup). Add the shredded chicken, then cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

When the rice is cooked, remove the soup from the heat, and stir in the frozen peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with the remaining chopped thyme, and some freshly chopped parsley.

Makes 4-6 servings

* Girls, I cooked the rice separately this time, because I made the soup while M was at school, and I knew it the rice sat for too long, it would get all puffy.