I’m a little behind on this posting.
Fall always makes me want soup. I love rice and vegetable soups, in particular. This is a adaptation of a recipe found in the Favorites recipe book. I had never cooked with leeks before. To me, they reminded me of more mild green onions. I must state that I do not think my husband would have liked this soup, but I knew that and made it for me during the week.
2 medium leeks, white part only
4 Tbsp butter
3 medium carrots, sliced thin (I LOVE my mandolin for this)
8 medium-sized mushrooms sliced (I used more because I Love mushrooms)
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 cup white grape juice
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
handful pecans
salt and pepper to taste
Cut leeks in half lenghtwise and rinse well to grit. Drain and thinly slice.
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add leeks, sliced carrots, sliced mushrooms, and sliced celery and saute until tender. Add rice and stir to coat with butter.
Add one can of chicken broth and one cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins or until rice is tender.
While rice is cooking, heat the remaining two cans of broth and grape juice. Add chicken breasts and simmer for 15 mins, uncovered. Remove chicken and set aside.
Strain broth from cooking chicken into rice and vegetable mixture.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Chop or shred chicken and add to soup. Add handful of chopped pecans. Heat thoroughly and serve!
I had some leftover chicken in the fridge, so I skipped the whole cooking chicken step and just added the extra liquid to the soup earlier. I only had a few pecans but a lot of pine nuts, so I threw those in as well. The pine nuts had a stronger flavor than the pecans, but they worked in a pinch.
