natural remedy. [chicken & rice soup]

Right when I thought I avoided the nasty cold going around, I got hit with it yesterday. Nothing sounded better than a hot bowl of healthy and hearty soup, so I went home after work to make this homemade chicken and rice soup. I kept the recipe simple, aside from the homemade chicken broth (which I always keep stocked in the freezer). Since there’s minimal ingredients in the soup, the rich broth helps boost the flavor.

I’ve got cold medicine, Emergen-C and tissues close by my side, so I’m crossing my fingers I’ll fight this off soon. Here’s to hoping you won’t catch what I have!

Recipe:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached then shredded

7 cups homemade chicken broth

1 small sweet onion, finely diced

5 carrots, finely diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Medley (long-grain brown rice, black barley and daikon radish seeds)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tsp. dried parsley

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add chicken breasts and cook about 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred chicken.

In a large pot, bring chicken broth to a simmer. Add onion, celery and carrots, and cook about 5 minutes. Add rice and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until rice is tender. Add shredded chicken, then season soup with salt, pepper and parsley. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes or so. Serve hot.