Chicken And Wild Rice Soup

Chicken and wild rice soup is a traditional Southern dish that has also become popular today through its many variations. Wild rice is an unusual form of rice that is chock full of nutrients. This soup has helped popularize this form of rice as well. This soup is also associated with comfort food especially when sick.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice or ½ cup wild rice and ½ brown rice
• 8 ounces mushrooms, washed and chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 cups broth or water
• 12 ounces low fat milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or cornstarch
• 1 pound chopped and cooked chicken
• 1 cup chopped different herbs like thyme, parsley and marjoram
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation time

1 hour

Directions & serving size

1. Cook the rice as per the directions which usually means cook the rice with a little water or stock, till all is absorbed and then add more. Do this till rice is fluffy and cooked.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan.
3. Add the onion and garlic to the butter and sauté for some time.
4. To this mixture of onion, garlic and butter, add broth or water and bring to a boil.
   This should take a few minutes of medium heat.
5. Once the mixture has boiled, reduce the heat, and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes.
6. Combine milk and flour to make a roux. Stir this mixture well to make it free of lumps. Add the milk mixture to broth mixture that has been simmering.
7. Cook the mixture in the pan for 5 minutes. You have to cook it until the texture changes, becoming slightly thick. You need to stir the mixture constantly.
8. Stir in the remaining ingredients to complete the wild rice chicken soup. Adjust seasoning to taste.
9. Garnish with herbs.
10. This preparation serves 6 people.

You can also check recipe for 'creamy chicken soup with rice and cheese'

Serving instructions

This soup is a complete meal in itself and can be served without any accompaniments.

Nutritional Value Per Serving

• Per serving the calorie count is about 300 calories. If you omit the butter and use cooking spray, the calorie count comes down to 150 calories.
• This dish also contains 7 grams of fat, of which 5 grams are from saturated fat.
• You will also get 25 grams of protein from this chicken and wild rice soup.
• Fiber is 1.6 grams and cholesterol is 52 milligrams.

Health Benefits

Reducing the butter makes a big difference to the calorie count and will not affect the taste as much.

It is a great meal that can be frozen so it can be an easy, healthy meal you have access to.  

Tips

You can change it up by making it creamier, or lighter, with more vegetables and less fat.

You can add some pasta or noodles to increase the body. You can add corn and peas to make the soup colorful.