The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, was selected by me and is Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo, found on pages 86-87. (The recipe is all over the net, so while I don't usually give recipes on my site, this one is easy enough to find, so I will share it here as well, with full credit to Ellie and her recipe book listed above. Buy her books, you won't be sorry, as you will cook from them time and time again.)
I had a list of about 100 recipes that I wanted to choose, but it's still soup weather, and soup is one of my most favorite lunches, so soup it is this week. The soup goes together easily and makes a very large pot of soup just wonderfully full of flavor. There aren't any unusual or expensive ingredients, which makes it a great choice as well.
I gave it a run so that I could make sure I could highly recommend it. I made it exactly as she wrote it and it was wonderful. The next time I made it, I upped the lemon to 4 Tablespoons as that was the size of my lemon, and it was even better in my opinion because I love lemon and it went so nicely with the chicken and thyme. The third time I made it, I used lemon thyme as well as the extra lemon juice, and although the recipe was perfect as originally written, it is now highly addictive to this lemon-loving nut.
The soup freezes well, as I tried that, and is just great to have on hand in the freezer. Am thinking this is a recipe not just for soup-eating weather, but one I will use year in and year out. I hope you all enjoyed making and eating it as much as we did.
Next week: Pasta Puttanesca, recipe found in Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave, on page 158.
Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo
4 teaspoons olive oil
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into small chunks
Pinch of salt, plus more to taste
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 medium carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup orzo, preferably whole wheat
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into small chunks
Pinch of salt, plus more to taste
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 medium carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup orzo, preferably whole wheat
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the salt, add it to the pot, and cook, stirring, a few times, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a dish and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and thyme and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add 5 cups of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and let simmer until tender, about 8 minutes. Turn the heat down to low to keep the soup hot but not boiling.
Warm the remaining 1 cup broth in a small saucepan until it is hot but not boiling. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually whisk the lemon juice into the eggs. Then gradually add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking all the while. Add the mixture to the soup, stirring well until the soup is thickened. Do not let the soup come to a boil. Add the cooked chicken to the soup. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Makes 4 servings
Serving size: 1 1/2 cups
Per serving:
Calories 280; Total fat 10g (Sat fat 2g, Mono fat 6g, Poly fat 1g); Protein 26g; Carb 22g; Fiber 2g; Cholesterol 139mg; Sodium 291mg
Excellent source of:
niacin, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C
Good source of:
copper, folate, iodine, iron, magnesium, molybdenum, pantothenic acid, thiamin, vitamin B12, vitamin K, zinc
Serving size: 1 1/2 cups
Per serving:
Calories 280; Total fat 10g (Sat fat 2g, Mono fat 6g, Poly fat 1g); Protein 26g; Carb 22g; Fiber 2g; Cholesterol 139mg; Sodium 291mg
Excellent source of:
niacin, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C
Good source of:
copper, folate, iodine, iron, magnesium, molybdenum, pantothenic acid, thiamin, vitamin B12, vitamin K, zinc