Wild Rice and Chicken Soup

I’ve used the same wild rice soup recipe for eas­ily a decade. Used it and loved it, but recently I saw a ver­sion that called for a box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice. What a great idea!  Easy to find at any gro­cery store, pretty cost effec­tive, adds just enough wild rice that my kids don’t think I’m try­ing to poi­son them, and the sea­son­ing packet really works great as a fla­vor source. Uncle Ben’s is fairly healthy, claim­ing to use only nat­ural fla­vor­ings, so no preser­v­a­tives as best as I can tell. So here’s the old tried and true, re-vamped to include the Uncle Ben’s. It makes great left­overs as well. Just re-heat and add a lit­tle milk to bring it back to orig­i­nal consistency.

Serves 6

4 table­spoons butter

1 medium-large onion; chopped

6 stalks cel­ery; chopped

6 car­rots; peeled and chopped

4 (14.5oz.) cans low-sodium chicken broth–or 7 1/2 cups home­made broth

1 (6oz.) box Uncle Bens Long Grain and Wild Rice (with sea­son­ing packet)

2 1/2 cups whole milk (or equiv­a­lent mix­ture of milk and cream depend­ing on your desired fat content)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups cooked, cubed chicken (roast­ing in the oven is perfect!)

salt to taste

pep­per to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup sliv­ered almonds

1/2 cup cooked, chopped bacon (optional)

In a large, heavy pot, melt but­ter and add the onions, cel­ery, and car­rots. Saute until slightly soft; 8 min­utes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat to a sim­mer and add the con­tents of the box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice.  Cover and cook 15 minutes.

Mean­while, heat the 1/4 cup but­ter in a small saucepan. When just bub­bling, add the 1/4 cup all pur­pose flour. Whisk together and cook over medium heat, con­tin­u­ing to whisk, for 3–5 min­utes. Don’t let this roux get overly brown, just slightly golden.  Set aside.

When soup is done sim­mer­ing, add the milk or milk and cream mix­ture. Cook 10 more min­utes on low until rice has fin­ished cook­ing. Bring back to a low boil and add the roux (butter/flour mix­ture) and cook, stir­ring until soup thick­ens. Add cooked, cubed chicken. Add salt and pep­per to taste.  Serve with fresh pars­ley and sliv­ered almonds sprin­kled on top.  And another hold-over from my orig­i­nal recipe: toss a lit­tle cooked, chopped bacon on the top as well!

**Add other veg­eta­bles if desired: broc­coli, cau­li­flower, peas, corn.…

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