Makeover Chicken Rice Soup

Okay, so they say the way to a person's heart is through their stomach... Well this soup is definitely the way to my heart; it's so yummy! I was very, pleasantly surprised with the results of this soup. It's from "Healthy Cooking"; who would think anything labeled healthy would taste good?!  Meanwhile, my "side-dish" for you (like that pun--yeah I do, too).... So I made my wonderfully perfect chocolate chip cookies the other week and brought some to the guy I was going out on a date with. You would think with how awesome my cookies are, I would get a text the next day with a thanks.. Nope!! Everyone loves my cookies.. My cookies bring all the boys to the yard and they're like it's better than yours, damn right it's better than yours...  Sorry, it popped in my head. The next time I talked to him he did  mention they were great, but HELLO, they are so yummy, they deserve a next day text.   Whatev, on to the soup!!

Okay, the real title of the soup is "Makeover Curried Chicken Rice Soup"; however I didn't put the curry in. I put in lemon pepper. Thus, my title is "Makeover Lemon Pepper Chicken Rice Soup"

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Yield: 11 servings (2 3/4 qt)

1/4 C butter, cubed
2 large carrots, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 C plus 2 T all purpose flour
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp curry powder (THIS IS WHERE I SUB-ED IN LEMON PEPPER; SAME AMOUNT)
2 cans (12 oz each) fat-free evaporated milk
1 C half-n-half cream
4 1/2 C reduced sodium chicken broth
3 C cubed cooked chicken breast
2 C cooked brown rice

1) In Dutch oven, melt butter. Add carrots, celery and onion; saute for 2 minutes. Sprinkled with flour, stir until blended. Stir in seasoned salt and curry (lemon pepper, in my case). Gradually add milk and cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

2) Gradually add broth. Stir in chicken and rice; return to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10  minutes or until vegetables are tender.



Okay, the only change I made to the recipe was the lemon pepper. I have no desire to curry anything; ef that! So I'm assuming you can use whatever leftover chicken you have for this soup. However, I cooked a couple chicken breasts specifically for this soup and I lemon peppered 'em up before I threw 'em in the oven. I also did this the day before I planned on making the soup to make life a little easier. Obviously the magazines cooking time is a gross underestimate if you are specifically making the chicken for the soup (and rice, too).

A little tip for you; rice freezes well. I've been eating brown rice regularly, but it takes a long time to cook. So I've taken to freezing rice. I make more than a recipe calls for and take the extra (usually a cup or 2) and then freeze it in a baggy for later.

Also, I have no idea if half-n-half cream is the same as half-n-half you find in the dairy section; but in my world it is. I've never heard half-n-half referred to has cream before, but who am I to know such things? Maybe if I went to the healthy food store they might have this elusive cream.

Finally, things were a little difficult in the "adding the flour" section. I felt like there wasn't enough liquid to handle all the flour being blended in to the mix. Be careful and adjust your amounts accordingly.


And, of course, add some more pepper to your serving and enjoy!