Man oh man is it COLD out!  Every morning when I turn on Good Morning America one of the first stories covered has to do with how much of the country is being bombarded with record breaking snow and freezing temperatures.  I live in Seattle and although we (thankfully!!!) have not been plagued with this type of winter storm, it is pretty chilly and nothing warms my soul like a comforting pot of homemade soup.

The recipe I wanted to share today is super easy and so comforting.  It is a recipe for Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup that I stumbled on years ago while perusing the internet for a yummy and easy chicken soup.  The original recipe can be found here, however I have made some changes over the years to make it a bit healthier and tastier, in my opinion. I love to start the soup with a healthy dose of veggies that I like to put in a food processor so that my boys will actually eat the soup and not question everything.  You will also notice that I have a bit of an odd flavoring addition which is noted as packets of Ramen flavoring.  I know – very weird, but I can’t explain how good that salt in those little packets make this soup!  I also like to use either corn starch or potato starch to help make this a gluten free soup and I substituted half and half for the cream in the original recipe as well.

I hope you try this recipe out and let me know what you think.  This has become one of our family favorites and hopefully will become one for your family as well.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
3 T. oil
3 T. corn starch or potato starch
4 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
1 package Rice a Roni Wild Rice Mix
2 packets Ramen Soup Mix (I prefer beef flavored for this recipe)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1-2 cups Half & Half

Directions
Over medium-high heat in a large stock pot warm 3 T. olive oil.

Place onions, carrots, celery and garlic into a food processor and pulse until all vegetables come to a very, fine chop.  Place vegetable mixture into soup pot and sauté until veggies are lightly golden, about 6-8 minutes.  Add starch (potato or corn) and cook for 2 minutes.

Add stock, water, rice mix and ramen packets to the pot and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover pot and cook for 25 minutes over low heat.

After 25 minutes, add chicken breasts and half and half.  Warm for another ten minutes and serve.