Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I have a little game I play in the kitchen from time to time, challenging myself to try and make something good for our table that uses up random things that have been hiding in the refrigerator, the pantry, or the freezer.  I think of Mother Hubbard as I scan the various containers holding foods that are hoping for a fate other than the compost pile.  

I recently took on a Mother Hubbard challenge, prodded by a recipe I found in the November 2014 issue of Food and Wine.  The recipe was in an article that featured outstanding cooks in America who shared ideas for things to cook over Thanksgiving weekend.  Amanda Johnson, who co-owns The Our Town Bakery in Hillsboro, North Dakota, shared her recipe for a warming chicken and wild rice soup. This recipe could be a way to use leftover turkey, but I had frozen raw chicken thighs in my freezer.  And I had frozen chicken stock and wild rice in there, too. I had to make a Mother Hubbard version of this soup!

I followed the base of Johnson’s recipe, using the baby carrots left over from a party appetizer the previous weekend and the celery, onions, and garlic that are mainstays of my pantry.  I had fresh mushrooms in the frig that needed to be cooked, so I added those to the soup pot after the mirepoix had sautéed for a while.

Since I had uncooked chicken thighs, I cut them into bite-size pieces and added them the last 15 minutes of cooking.  They boosted the flavor of the stock nicely.  Johnson finished her soup with a cup of heavy cream.  I opted to omit the cream (partly because I had none on hand and partly to feel virtuous) and instead added thinly sliced spinach leaves and a bit of minced parsley to each bowl before ladling the hot soup in.

The result was a great soup for cold winter nights with lots of flavor, a bit of color–and an added bonus of some emptier freezer and pantry shelves.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie

Warm winter soup with chicken and whole grains

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 carrots sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 3 stalks celery sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 medium brown onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 quarts chicken stock preferable homemade or low-sodium
• 1 cup wild rice
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups thinly sliced fresh spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Place the olive oil and butter in large soup pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cook, stirring often for about 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are somewhat softened. Add the mushrooms. Cook another 4 minutes, stirring often.
• Add the flour to the vegetable mixture, mixing well, and stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot for 3 minutes. Slowly add the chicken stock, stopping to stir and mix well.
• When all the stock has been added, pour in the wild rice. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer. Cook covered for 30 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and cook another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Prepare soup bowls by placing 1/4 cup of sliced spinach and 1 Tablespoon of chopped parsley in the bottom of each. Ladle soup into each bowl.

Notes

The soup can be made ahead of time and will keep for two days. Keep the spinach and parsley aside and add right before serving to preserve the bright color.

Adapted from Amanda Johnson of Our Town Bakery, Hillsboro ND