Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups of diced raw chicken breast
4 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil or use whatever oil you like
1/2 cup diced onion (1/4 inch pieces)
3 stalks of celery finely diced (1/4 inch pieces)
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
juice of 1 1/2 medium sized lemons
1/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt or season to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup of frozen chopped spinach or use 1 cup of fresh chopped spinach (optional)
Directions:
1. Heat a stock pot to medium heat and then add oil. Add diced onion and celery. Cook until onion is transparent but not brown, by that point the celery should also be cooked. Then add the minced garlic and diced chicken. Cook until chicken cooked through.
2. Add the 4 tablespoons of flour and mix in well with the chicken, celery and onions. Then slowly add in the 6 cups of chicken broth, mixing well. Bring up to a simmer, it will thicken a little.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest and all the lemon juice. Add the lemon juice a little at a time because some like it more lemony than others.
4. Add 1/4 cup of uncooked orzo pasta and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, mixing occasionally so that the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Now add the spinach if that’s what you like. Season with the salt and pepper until is tastes good to you. Serve with a garnish of chopped fresh parsley.
I cant wait to try this recipe…I think I will try with orzo. For a meal for my toddler the pasta will be more appealing:)
Great Lizzy, but add the lemon juice slowly, a little at a time, not sure how much lemon Zion will like, or you, I really love lemom, so I may add more than most people. He might really like those macaroons though.
I am going to comment on my own soup saying that the orzo pasta was nice but I think I prefer rice. The orzo pasta expanded too much for my liking and made the soup a little thick. My husband likes spinach so I added some, he really liked the soup with the spinach. I think kale would be a great addition also. I’m a bit of a purest when it comes to this soup, I like it just with the chicken, vegetables and some rice- I could probably even live without the rice:)