Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

It's fall (my favorite season!), which means sometimes all a girl needs is a comforting bowl of soup, and what's more comforting than chicken soup? While all ingredients can be prepared fresh, I admit that I cheated some. I used one can (drained) of wild rice to avoid dirtying a second pot; I also used the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken. After all, there is little comfort to be had in a meal that you know you'll have to clean multiple pans after! Using my shortcuts turns this into a one pot meal.

I served this with some slices of Italian bread topped with fresh grilled tomatoes.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

5 tbs butter

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

4 tbs flour

1/2 tbs fresh cracked pepper

6 c chicken stock

1 c milk

1 c heavy cream

3 cups prepared chicken, cubed

8 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tbs fresh oregano leaves, chopped

1 bay leaf

2 c prepared wild rice

salt to taste

1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

In a large stock pot, heat the butter over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic, celery, and carrot and saute an additional 5 minutes. Stir in flour until thickenedy; add pepper.

Stir in stock, milk, and cream. Add chicken, thyme sprigs, oregano, and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Fish out the thyme sprigs and strip the leaves off; return the thyme leaves to the soup and discard the stems. Add rice and simmer another 15 minutes. Salt to taste; stir in parsley just before serving. Makes about 8 servings of soup.

Improv-erish Red Beans & Rice

It was one of those nights tonight. After a mere four hours of sleep and some middle school-style drama from the oldest offspring, I wasn't in the mood to hit the grocery store. I've been craving red beans and rice lately, and the thought of minimal clean-up after a one-pot wonder was appealing.

For some reason I thought I had several cans of kidney beans. I was wrong....one lonely 15 ounce can rested in my cupboard (surrounded by six cans of mandarin oranges....what the--?). So, I killed off some veggies to round out this one-pot meal (using a pot to make the rice would bump the pot count up to two, of course).

Ingredients

3 tbs butter

4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

4 stalks celery, sliced

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs dried thyme

1 tbs dried parsley

1 tbs dried marjoram

salt and pepper

Chipotle Tabasco

14 oz smoked turkey sausage, sliced

1 15oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

8 servings rice, prepared according to package directions

several green onion stalks, sliced

Directions

Heat wok or large skillet over med-high heat. Melt butter in wok and saute carrots, celery, and onion for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add garlic and dried herbs and saute another two minutes, stirring constantly. Season to taste with salt/pepper and Tabasco.

Push veggies to edges of the wok, clearing the center. Lay sausage in middle and allow to brown about 5-7 minutes (avoid moving the sausage much during this time so it browns properly).

Mix the contents of the wok together and add beans. Stir to combine, and turn heat to low. Cover and allow flavors to meld about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning as desired.

Serve over hot rice and garnish with green onion.

Serves 8.