Chicken Wild Rice Soup

As I said before, I am ready for fall, and find myself already searching for meals that remind me of my favorite time of year.  Even though I am not a big soup/stew fan, I can’t deny that it just screams fall, and so I am always on the look-out for new soups to try.  I am noticing I tend to gravitate towards rice soups, which isn’t a bad thing, just an observation.  I think it’s because I don’t like a real brothy soup.  Anyway, this is of course a rice soup as well, but for a bit of a change I decided it was finally time I tried wild rice.

As a kid I was a picky eater, and we didn’t eat rice very often and definitely never had wild rice.  As an adult, I am obviously more likely to try new things, but my husband has insisted for years that he absolutely HATED wild rice, so I have skipped over it.  Finally I just decided he needed to “man up” and give it another shot….. he still doesn’t like it.  But I did!  I actually couldn’t find just wild rice at the store other than a tiny box for l like $5 that wouldn’t have even been enough for what I was making and some quick versions I didn’t want, so I ended up with a wild and brown rice blend which was the same price for a much larger amount.  I think it had about 5-6 different types in it.  I really liked the nutty flavor of the rice, which was a nice change from the mostly flavorless other stuff.  I could actually enjoy eating rice by itself if it had flavor!

One note though…. I started to follow the cooking directions on the package but noticed that after about 25-30 minutes (it was supposed to go for 45 minutes and then steam off the heat for another 10) there wasn’t any water left in the pot so I went ahead and did a taste test then.  It was still ever so slightly chewy, but I actually prefer my rice that way.  I don’t appreciate mushy rice, and rather enjoy a bit of texture.  So I took it off then and allowed it to sit for the 10 minutes and that was perfect… especially since it was going into soup and I knew that would soften it even more.

As for the soup… I really enjoyed it, but my husband couldn’t see past his wild rice prejudice lol.  It had a great earthy taste, and was creamy and comforting, just like soup should be.  I used rotisserie chicken again (I know big surprise) and a bit more mushrooms than it called for probably since I actually halved the recipe and still bought an 8oz container of mushrooms.  I used probably 3/4 of the package.  I served a soft multi-grain baguette that I slightly toasted under the broiler with this and it was perfect!  The only thing I will do differently next time, and there will be a next time to my husband’s dismay, is to use poultry seasoning in place of the ground thyme (I know it called for dried thyme but I didn’t have any).  I should have used even less of the ground thyme since it’s flavor is stronger than dried thyme but I guess I misjudged just how much stronger it was.  I have never been a huge fan of thyme and so a blend that still has that earthy/fall taste without such an overpowering thyme flavor seems like it would suit my tastes nicely, and I did end up liking the amount of seasoning the ground variety gave, just not the flavor if that makes sense.    It was great heated up the next day by the way.

Serves : 8

Ingredients :

• 1 cup wild rice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped  (I used white)
• 2 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 large stalks celery, chopped
• 1 tsp. dried thyme (see note above)
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 8 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

Directions :

1. Cook wild rice according to package directions. (See note above)
2. In a large pot, or dutch oven, heat oil.  Saute carrots, celery, and onions until soft; about 4 minutes.  Add thyme and flour and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes stirring so it doesn’t burn.
3. Add in your chicken stock, and bring to a boil.  Add the chicken, mushrooms, and salt & pepper, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add cooked wild rice and half-and-half, bring back to a boil, and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Turn off heat and stir in the chopped parsley.

Recipe from Roti n Rice