When the weather gets chilly, nothing quite warms you up like a hot bowl of homemade soup. Try this chunky variety today.
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup uncooked, long-grain white rice, or brown rice
10 cups chicken broth, (homemade or reconstituted canned)
thyme, to taste
bay leaf, to taste
black pepper, to taste
parsley, to taste
1 1/2 cups cubed raw skinless, boneless chicken breast, (about 3 individual breasts)
In a large covered saucepan or Dutch oven, combine the onion, carrots, celery, rice and chicken broth. (You might want to cut up a few extra vegetables just in case your young assistant gets hungry while she's watching the soup simmer.)
Add the seasonings to taste, but don't add any salt if you're using canned broth, which tends to be quite salty. Let simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Add the chicken cubes to the soup, and continue cooking on medium-low heat for another 5 to 10 minutes, just until the chicken is cooked and the rice is tender, but not disintegrated.