Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

So, is it cold enough out there for you? If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, chances are your answer to that question is yes! Because here we are, a week and a half into the year, and it’s freezing! Literally. I’m not sure we’ve really made it above freezing so far this year. Our cats are looking for warm places to hide (like on top of laptops) and we’re looking for indoor fun to keep warm (thus the reason I’ve been to the movies twice, TWICE! already this year).

Luckily, cold weather calls for warm comfort foods, and they just happen to be some of my favorites. Soups, stews, chillis–they’re all my friends, especially when the mercury can’t make it out of the 20s and the wind just makes it worse. So last weekend, as we were looking for a dinner to warm us up while keeping with our resolution to eat slightly better now that we’re past the holidays, we decided to try out a chicken and wild rice soup recipe that was loaded with veggies and winter warmth. And it went into the crockpot–so it would cook for us while we settled up on another of those resolutions, re-engaging our gym routine!

The recipe called for all of the traditional trimmings of chicken noodle soup–carrots, celery, onions–but added a bit of a twist with the addition of mushrooms and wild rice. The mushrooms allow you to use just a little bit of chicken, but still get a fantastic satisfying meal. You could also leave the chicken out and use veggie stock to easily get a good vegetarian meal. Perfect for a cold night in.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Adapted from Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever

If this recipe isn’t comfort food in a crock pot, I don’t know what is. This soup is fantastic the day it is made, and good for several days after. If you reheat it on the stove you may want to add some additional water as you reheat, since the rice will continue to soak it up. We found that some fantastic homemade Parker House rolls were the perfect compliment to this meal!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 medium carrots, chopped
• 4 medium stalks of celery, with leaves, chopped
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cut into slices
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried sage, crushed in your hand
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups cooked chicken
• 2 cups wild rice
• 1 cup cream or milk (we used skim)

Directions:

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until the veggies are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and sage to the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the contents of the skillet to the insert of a slow cooker. Stir in the chicken broth, chicken, and wild rice.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, until the wild rice is tender and the soup is thickened.

Stir in the cream or milk, and serve the soup.

A big of bowl of comfort, to help you get through this deep winter freeze!

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