Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken broth
5 cubed peeled red potatoes
3 cups milk
10 slices Cheddar Kraft singles
2 chicken breasts
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t salt

Boil 3 cups water. Add rice and bring back to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until cooked.

Heat oven to 425. Coat chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast about 9 minutes on each side. Let rest.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil or butter, onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender. Combine milk and flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in rice, chicken, pepper, and salt.

I topped mine with crushed Ritz crackers.

Chicken Soup with Parsley Dumplings

1 teaspoon vegetable or olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups sliced carrots
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon softened butter

Saute carrots and onion in a dutch oven over medium high heat for a couple of minutes. Add chicken and cook until it begins to turn white on all sides. Add the mushrooms, peas, and salt; stir. Add chicken broth, turn heat to high and allow soup to boil; simmer about 10 minutes. In the meantime, combine all your dry ingredients for the dumplings, then add the wet. You can mix with a fork but I use my hands. Drop tablespoon size dumplings in to the soup once boiling. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes. The steam is what cooks them through so leave the lid on.

Tip#1 Don't overcook your chicken. It will have time to cook in the boiling broth and if you overcook, it will turn out tough and nobody likes tough chicken.

Tip #2 If you have leftovers, throw out the dumplings and make more when you re-heat the
soup.

Spaghetti and Meatball "Stoup"

As if you didn't already know from the name, this is a Rachael Ray recipe.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups tomato sauce
3 cups chicken stock
1 pound extra lean ground sirloin
1/2 cup grated parmigiano
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 pound spaghetti, broken in half
basil
bread for dipping

Preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add oil, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic and saute 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and stock and cover the pot. Turn up the heat and bring to a fast boil. While soup comes to a boil, mix meat, cheese, breadcrumbs, egg and parsley until just combined. Roll into balls. Remove lid from soup and slide meatballs in. Bring back up to a boil and stir in spaghetti. Reduce the heat and simmer about 10 minutes until pasta is tender and meatballs are cooked through. Stir in basil and take soup off stove. Serve with bread and extra cheese.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

3 c. broccoli florets
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. half & half
1/2 c. flour
8 slices Kraft Sharp Cheddar singles (I use whatever I have)
1/2 c. shredded carrot
1/3 c. diced white onion
pepper

Steam broccoli in a steamer basket about 6 minutes. Remove and dice into small chunks. Pour chicken broth & half & half in saucepan. Whisk in flour and add remaining ingredients. including broccoli. Turn heat to medium, stirring often until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots are tender and soup is thick.

Basic Chicken Stock

I know this one is not normal but let me plead my case. Roasted chicken is so easy. So easy. Roast a chicken for dinner, make your own stock with the leftovers. It's easy and you can make a really simple chicken noodle soup recipe like this one taste so good. (By the way, I made this chicken noodle soup with store bought chicken broth and it is delightful and very fast.)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 onion halved
chicken bones (whatever is leftover)
2 quarts cold water
4 sprigs parsley
4 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves

Saute the veggies about 4 minutes. Add everything else and simmer one hour. Strain. Refrigerate or freeze.

Green Minestrone

This is a new favorite of ours.

2 T. olive oil
4 slices pancetta (we use what we have, usually bacon)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 medium zucchini, diced
salt & pepper
1 can cannellini beans
1 can garbanzo beans
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup ditalini pasta
1/2 pound green beans
10 oz. spinich, chopped
1/2 cup Pamigiano Reggiano
fresh basil

Heat a soup pot over med-high heat. Add oil and pancetta. Saute 2 minutes. Add onions, celery, garlic, bay leaf and zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Saute another 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add beans and chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Add pasta and green beans and cook until pasta is just tender. Stir in spinach to wilt and add cheese. Top soup with basil.