Chicken, Mushroom and Rice Soup
Ingredients
1 box of long grain and wild rice, cooked per instructions (or any other rice is fine also)
4 tsp olive oil, divided
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into small bit sized pieces
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1/2 sweet yellow onion, small dice
2 carrots, peeled and small dice
2 stalks of celery, small dice
2 tbsp butter
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup flour
6 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
frozen broccoli florets (optional but adds to taste)
1/3c frozen corn (optional but adds to taste)
Instructions
Prepare the rice per instructions. Once it has cooked, set aside.
Heat half the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Season the chicken pieces with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add to the hot pan along with a dash of crushed red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, or until nearly done. Remove from the pan and place on a plate with a tin foil tent. Return the Dutch oven to the stove and add the remaining olive oil and the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes. Add the butter and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken and it’s juices, the minced garlic, and the thyme leaves, then cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 1-2 minutes
Slowly add the chicken broth while stirring constantly. Side Note: Your soup will be thicker if you really pour that broth in SLOWLY and stir. Once you have added all of the broth into the Dutch oven, add broccoli, corn and the bay leaf. Let the soup simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Remove bay leaf. Taste the soup then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Keep the rice separate so it doesn’t take on extra water from the soup. When ready to serve, add a small portion of rice to a bowl and ladle the soup on top. Enjoy.