Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup

A friend of ours does not think soup can be a meal. Soup is to be had before a meal – the only exception and this is a recent one – if a sandwich is paired with soup, it then can be eaten as a meal. What are your thoughts?

I honestly could eat soup for dinner almost every night. Soup toppings can really change it up, not to mention a huge hunk of bread, now we’re talkin’.

I found a recipe I had cut out of a grocery advertisement for Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup. I adapted it to fit the ingredients I had on hand.

The Ingredients:
4 Teaspoons Olive Oil
8 Ounces Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – I used organic – free range
1 Medium to Large White Onion
1 Clove Garlic
1 Large Carrot – diced
2 Celery Stalks – started with one, decided to add one more -diced
1 Heaping Tablespoon Fresh Thyme – chopped
8 Cups Chicken Broth – I used organic – free range.
1 Cup Orzo Pasta
2 Large Eggs
3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
Sea Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:
Dice and chop your thyme, onion, garlic, celery and carrots. (I used my Dorat cheater garlic)

Heat 2 Teaspoons of your olive oil in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium to high heat. Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until just cooked through – about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a dish and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pot. Add your onions, garlic, celery, carrots and thyme. Cook and stir over medium to high heat for about 5 minutes – just until the veggies are tender.

Add in 6 cups of broth and bring to a boil.

Add in orzo and let simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Decrease soup temperature to low to keep the soup hot, but not boiling.

Warm the remaining 2 cups of broth in a small pan until it is hot, but not boiling.

Extract the juice from your lemon. I used my new Pampered Chef Citrus Press. When my friend Paul visited last May, I didn’t have a reamer or anything for our Chicken Piccata Recipe – Now I have the citrus press, a reamer, and a juicer. Check me out – juicin’ it up all over my kitchen!

In a bowl, beat your 2 eggs…

Gradually whisk in your lemon juice…

Then gradually add the hot broth to the lemon and egg mixture, whisking the entire time.

I ran into a little problem trying to take photos during this process – guessing it will be fine for people that don’t photograph every step of their cooking, ha!

Add the mixture to the soup pot – stirring well until the soup is thickened.

The soup smelled delicious! I could not wait to dive right in.

Bright and cheery – perfect for an overcast day. I will definitely be making this soup recipe again and again.

In other news…
We have been super busy working on what was once our guest room. We got rid of the bed and bedroom furniture a while back because my clothing business was taking over the space. I then let a friend borrow some leather chairs and a small table desk and was left with a lot of open space. The treadmill and TV took up one wall, but the rest of the room was empty. We recently decided to set up a second office – his and hers. We painted over the weekend and the new office furniture was delivered last night. I’m so excited to finish the project. It will be cool to have my own space for blogging, photography equipment, books, etc. It’s also forcing me to really pair down. I mean, how many pens and pencils does one really need?