Main Course,  Recipes

Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Greens

April 11, 2012
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Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Greens
Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Greens

Recipe for Middle Aged Weight Creep

1 cup sit all day

2 lbs eat whatever is put in front of your face

1 dash too much work

1 generous spoonful of no exercise

1 pinch of laziness

Serves: two ever-widening hips.

I’ve got to do something about this. In the past, I’ve tried cleanse diets, and they work, like any diet will, until you stop doing it and slide back into old habits.

This time, the goal is to simply eat healthier, limiting fats and simple carbs, and try to get my body moving more. Sounds easy, right? Maybe for you, but for me the “moving” part is harder than the “eating” part. So I’ll start with the food and hope the exercise follows.

I made this soup because it’s healthy and filling and doesn’t feel like “diet food.” If you are anything like me, “diet” is a four-letter word, and the moment it enters my consciousness is the same moment I get hungry. That’s why it’s critical to eat things that are filling, but not fattening. I highly recommend you try making your own chicken stock so you can control the amount of salt and fat in it (and as a bonus, save a little moola).

As for the exercise, that comes next. I just got back from a week in Istanbul, an ancient and exotic city, but also covered in hills much like San Francisco. For a few days, we stayed in an apartment at the top of one of these hills and walking to and from it every day was a humbling experience, mostly for my lungs but also my legs. I see cardio in my future and honestly, it’s not pretty. On the other hand, this soup, if you serve it with rainbow chard in it as I did, can be pretty, colorful, and a healthy way to start any “diet” (pardon my French).

 

 

Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Greens
Print Recipe

Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Greens

Recipe for healthy, flavorful, and filling homemade Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Greens.
Total Time1 hour
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken, rice, soup
Servings: 12 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, raw, cut into 1" pieces
  • 1 each large yellow onion small dice (10 oz wt)
  • 2 each carrots small dice or sliced (6 oz wt)
  • 3 stalks celery diced (4 oz wt)
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced (about .25 oz)
  • 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger optional
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 10 cups chicken stock preferably homemade, low fat, low salt
  • 1 bunch rainbow chard or other greens cut into 2" pieces
  • 2 cups cooked* wild rice
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cut the chicken into 1" pieces and cut all vegetables in advance of starting the cooking process.
  • Heat a large soup pot and add the oil. Add the diced onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add the carrots and celery and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add the diced chicken and cook until seared on the outside. Add the minced garlic, minced ginger and dried thyme.
  • Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
  • In a medium-sized pot, cook the 1 cup dry wild rice in 3 cups of water for about 40 minutes. The rice should just be starting to open but should not be overcooked. It is going to continue to cook in the soup and you don't want to be mushy. Set aside when done.
  • About 15 minutes before serving the soup, add the cooked wild rice and the cut greens. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve.

 

 

 

 

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20 Comments

  • Myra
    April 11, 2012 at 8:51 am Reply

    Ha! I cook that recipe often and I’m still in my early 30’s. I used to add an extra dash of lazy, then I got a puppy that if not walked daily, eats my shoes. I love rainbow chard (even have some growing in my garden) in my soup. I’ve never tried adding ginger though – great idea.

  • Kent @ No Vacation Required
    April 11, 2012 at 1:42 pm Reply

    It looks delicious, and I love the idea of adding the greens. Okay… if we’re good and have this for dinner can we have the cheesecake for dessert?

    Glad to hear you are going to join us in the land of cardio. You’ll love it here. It allows you to eat more delicious food around the world.

    Keep us posted on your progress. Remember, one day at a time.

  • angela@spinachtiger
    April 11, 2012 at 2:03 pm Reply

    This is the kind of food I am craving right now. The weight thing is always an issue with me. I have to lose 10 pounds and I agree the diet word is not for me. I know I would love this soup and it was so satisfy.

  • Myrtle
    April 25, 2012 at 2:17 am Reply

    I love chicken soup and I guess I can try this one.. Actually, I am not good in cooking and I only depend on cookbooks and recipes online.. Thanks!

  • Katie Martin
    April 30, 2012 at 12:25 pm Reply

    I am exactly the same as you when it comes to eating healthy versus exercising. It is much easier for me to just eat healthy, because for some reason getting up and out takes a huge amount of effort. It’s pretty pitiful. But this recipe looks awesome. I’ve never had a soup that has greens in it, so this looks like a new fun thing to try. Would the ginger seem too strong if I wasn’t able to put the garlic in the recipe? I just don’t want to the ginger taste to be too strong if there isn’t another distinctive flavor to combine with it.

    • drmt959
      May 7, 2024 at 5:50 pm Reply

      I got a lot of extra weight by using things like Prednisone it’s just great for giving you a moon face and a buffalo hump! Even though I lost them any time I start gaining any extra weight they start coming back, especially that very attractive buffalo hump! I started doing a Mediterranean diet but then I went to a vegan diet and I lost a ton of the extra weight. I’d still like to lose more and I’m currently fighting with this 20 pounds that is lonely and wants to be 40 pounds so I can get that lovely buffalo hump and maybe my feet bones will start breaking spontaneously too! No just kidding I think I’d have to go back into steroids for a few years again and no way will this happen ! I don’t just eat a vegan junk food diet, I’ve seen people do that and she didn’t lose any weight but she sure complained about how I lied to her so you need to not just eat cookies and candy that says it is vegan and expect a miracle. It has to be real food like tofu and veggies fruits ECT and avoid the prepared foods. They make a lot of expensive stuff for the vegan who wants to eat meat and sometimes I have impossible burgers or beyond meat sausage or my favorite Quran chicken nuggets made with a mushroom type of plant that has a lot of natural protein and more fiber than a lot of veggies so they are great at filling you up and not out!

  • Christy
    November 7, 2022 at 6:01 pm Reply

    Here’s to over the hill! Made this and everyone loved it. Even my 4 year old. I didn’t have celery but used the chard stalks. Also added chopped red pepper and a handful of egg noddles so my toddlers would recognize and eat it. Finally, used powered ginger instead of fresh and added a squeeze of lemon juice. Delicious.

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