Wednesday, November 12

Chicken (and Wild Rice) Soup for My Soul

Last posted 11-19-2008, but I made it again last night and it's delicious.  Happy Giving 
My visiting teachers brought me dinner last night. (In my church, these are women whose purpose it is to succor, to console, to commiserate and and help each other stay sane amidst the craziness of life).

I can't imagine how complicated it was for them, when they have already been regaled for months with my tirades on finding, cooking, adapting recipes for gluten-free. But, attempting the ultimate in service, they fixed me a meal.

In our world, it's a fading absolution--bringing someone dinner. I know in this day and age, that if you are sick or poorly, you are still capable of calling for take-out, but the delivery guy doesn't come to the door with a dish wrapped in linen and a note saying, "Feel better, I love you." And that makes all the difference. (And it might not be GF take-out anyway!)

Chicken (or Turkey) and Wild Rice Soup

½ cup butter
1 finely chopped onion
½ - 1 cup frozen corn
(or ½ cup chopped celery, if preferred)
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ cup carrots, sliced
1/2 cup corn starch
6 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 pound chicken breasts, or turkey cubed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups nonfat half-and-half (use normal half-and-half if you prefer, but you won't believe how delicious this is with the nonfat variety!)

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, corn, chicken and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté 3-4 more minutes. Transfer mixture to large pot. Over medium heat, gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly until all has been added. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to low and let simmer.

Next, add the rice, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper and almonds. Allow to heat through and then pour in the half-and-half. Then add the starch added to a little water and stir well.

Let simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil or it won't thicken properly - let it simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Bless you, Kali and Cheryl. I love you two too.

3 comments:

HealBalanceLive said...

I used this recipe today, in it went the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I used hemp milk instead of the cream and it turned out wonderful!! Thanks for sharing!! Karen (DawnL's friend)

Sabeys said...

I am making this...

Terina Dee said...

It's turning cold snappy in OK this week and soups are hot in so many ways. Why is it that I can't adjust to the cold here? I'm still wandering about under-dressed. If it were 32 in UT, I'd pull out the cuddlieduddlies.