Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

In honor of National Soup Month, I hereby present... yet another soup recipe.  Yeah, you're right.  I was going to post it regardless of the month.  But this gives me a really good excuse, don't you think?  Not that I need an excuse.  This stuff is amazing.  Along with Zuppa Toscana (which you should also try if you haven't yet) and beef barley soup (which isn't exactly co-op friendly, unfortunately), this chicken and wild rice soup is definitely one of my favorites.  It comes from my pastor's wife back home, and it's just as delicious as I, a little kid reading Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup with Rice, once only imagined it could be.

You will need to buy a couple of items for this recipe, but they're both inexpensive and keep well.  Green onions were on sale for $.59 at Scott's/Kroger this week; Meijer also has them for under a dollar.  The leftovers can be sliced and frozen.  Parsley is $.79 at Meijer.  It keeps for two to three weeks if prepped properly:  rinse and pat slightly dry with a paper towel, then strip off the leaves and put them in a zip-top bag lined with paper towel.  Keep the bag in the refrigerator, unsealed.  Every week or so, remove any yellowing leaves and replace the paper towel if it gets too wet.

The original recipe calls for wild rice, but since that's generally out of my budget, I usually use a box of mixed long grain and wild rice (like Rice-A-Roni or Uncle Ben's), which shows up in the co-op pretty often.  Try to get mixes where the seasoning packet is separate, since you're going to add your own fresh seasonings, which taste ten times better and are better for you anyway.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 6
Time: 1 hour

2/3 cup long grain and wild rice (about 1 box; discard seasoning packet)
4-5 cups chicken broth
dash black pepper
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, halved then sliced (or coarsely chopped)
1/2 cup green onions
2 T. butter
1 1/2 cup cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 cup fresh parsley, snipped

In a large saucepan, mix the rice, broth, and pepper.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 40-45 minutes, or until rice is tender.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook mushrooms and green onions in butter until tender, but not brown.  Add mushroom mixture, chicken, and parsley to soup.  Heat through.

(I usually serve this with Rustic Herb Bread.  Yum.)