Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

A throwback recipe to when my oldest kid looked like this:

Here's my little buddy helper. I gave him some more celery to play with and when I looked over later he'd balanced it perfectly on the side of his chair. Weird.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

¼ cup butter
1 finely chopped onion
½ - 1 cup frozen corn
4 stalks of celery, sliced

2 cups carrots, sliced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth (can use bouillon)
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large)
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups nonfat half-and-half

Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add flour and stir well. Add remaining spices and incorporate. 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. Add chicken breasts to the low simmering pot, cook uncovered, stirring occasionally. Don’t let soup come to a real boil at this time to keep the chicken tender.

 

Once chicken is cooked through (160 degrees) remove to a plate. Next, add the rice, and corn, allow to heat through and then pour in the half-and-half. Chop or shred the chicken into bit sized pieces and return to soup pot. Let simmer, covered, for another half an hour or until ready to eat.

*Notes: For those of you out there who may not be curry fans, DON'T leave it out! There isn't a strong curry flavor, but it does add a sweet kick that was amazing! I also don’t measure these veggie amounts, I just load it up! 

*Could be made GF, by taking out flour completely or by subbing in some tapioca startch or rice flour.

Cheesy Burger Chowder

The weather has turned cold, even down here in Texas.  The time has come for me to unveil a Mama D classic, Cheesy Burger Chowder (AKA Cheeseburger Soup, but I’ve never liked that name since it sounds like a burger, bun, and mustard in a blender – ick).

This soup is seriously out of this world.  It’s creamy, flavorful, loaded with veggies, but it’s also bad… so, so bad for you.

I almost chickened out of posting this recipe, it’s THAT bad.  I told Hubby that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to make it again in good conscience and he nearly cried.  So for him, I’m putting this recipe out there, and promising to keep on making it from time to time, but I’m also going to put my notes about how to cut out some of the fat and calories (both versions have been tested on us and both were considered delicious).

**Going to a potluck sometime this month?  This soup will make you a rock star, I guarantee it.**

Cheesy Burger Chowder – Mama D’s version, with Kim notes for cutting back fat

• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 3/4 c. chopped onion
• 3/4 c. shredded carrots (the amounts of veggies don’t need to be exact, I usually add a bit extra)
• 3/4 c. diced celery
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 4 Tbs. butter/margarine, divided (I don’t use any butter in my version)
• 3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 c. peeled and diced potatoes (small bite sizes work best so that they cook faster)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 8 oz. Velveeta (I use the 2% milk variety that has less fat)
• 1 1/2 c. milk (skim)
• 3/4 tsp. salt (I skip this)
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 c. sour cream (I use fat-free)

Brown beef, drain, set aside.  In a large soup pot saute onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 Tbs butter (or just use some cooking spray if omitting butter) until veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.  Add broth, potatoes, and beef.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender (this time will really depend on the size of the potatoes you cut).  Meanwhile, melt remaining 3 Tbs butter in a small saucepan and add flour.  Cook and stir for about 3 minutes or until bubbly, then add it to soup and bring to a boil.  (If not using butter, just throw the flour in the soup, but be very attentive for lumps and smash them out on the side of the pot with a fork if necessary.) Boil for 2 minutes, stirring well.  Reduce heat to low, add cheese in small chunks, milk, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir until cheese is melted, remove from heat and blend in sour cream.