Golden Chicken Soup

The Friday before Christmas my grandparents came over for lunch. It was the first time they had been to see our new home in Minnesota. Little one spent most of the visit playing with his great-grandpa in his room. It was so much fun to hear them playing with his cars and books. Honestly, it’s hard to tell that there is an 80 year age difference between the two!

My grandma is a huge fan of soup just like me. She gave me a wonderful soup cookbook years ago (this recipe is not from that cookbook) that has furthered my love of soup. I knew that the perfect lunch to serve my grandparents would be a nice pot of soup and a loaf of homemade bread. I had picked up a new cookbook while at the craft store when I was buying yarn for ANOTHER project I’m working on. Fine Cooking put out a one pot meal cookbook so I was very excited to test the recipes out.

Sadly, there was a little excitement in the kitchen while I was prepping the soup for my grandparent’s visit. The burner under my favorite soup pot caught on fire. I was able to get the fire out safely but little one has been talking about the fire since then.  The soup survived and lunch went well. The repair man showed up a few days later and unfortunately after his visit my pot was ruined. I have a new soup pot (thankfully Macy’s was having a sale) so my soup days are not over.

Husband was thrilled that there were leftovers after our lunch. The soup is low in calories but is packed with flavor. Most of the ingredients are ones that I typically have on hand. Saffron can be a little expensive if purchased at the grocery store so I highly recommend picking up saffron at World Market if you have one close. The recipe recommends cooking the orzo separately. While it may seem like a better idea to just throw the orzo in the soup I highly recommend following the recipe and cooking the orzo separately.

Enjoy!

2 Tablespoons olive oil      
2 large ribs celery, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 pinch saffron threads
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 quarts chicken broth
2 cups finely diced cooked chicken
½ cup orzo
1 cup frozen corn
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a medium saucepan of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the orzo until tender, eight to ten minutes. Drain.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, saffron, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, five to six minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the chicken and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the drained orzo, corn, and parsley to the soup and cook just until the corn is heated through, about two minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Adapted from Fine Cooking One Pot Meals or http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/golden-chicken-corn-orzo-soup.aspx