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After being in the air all day yesterday, traveling home from visiting my daughter in London, this soup sounded wonderful!.............
I made the soup before I left for London and it is truly a heart-warming, delicious soup - chocked full of flavorful veggies and shredded chicken. You can combine the rice with the soup right away, but I find it keeps much better separated, as the rice swells up and gets a bit soggy as it sits in the broth. The soup also looks much prettier with a scoop of rice and a sprinkle of fresh herbs on top!
I LOVED every minute of my trip and it was a bittersweet farewell as I left London to head back home. I was looking forward to planting my feet, once again, on American soil, being with family and in my own home but it's always hard to leave my daughter, her husband and those sweet girlies!
P.S. We walk almost everywhere we go in London - I need to use a pedometer on one of these trips - I'm sure I'd be amazed at how many miles these feet cover! I'm sharing a few last pictures from the trip - it was a cold, crisp day on Sunday and my granddaughters and I walked to church. Well, kind of walked - the girls usually ride their scooters as they tend to dawdle a lot more when they're walking. 🙂 We might not ever have gotten to church had they been on foot.
We took a shortcut through a lovely old cemetery. When I asked the girls to stop for a photo shoot they turned and made silly faces at me - however when I told them that anyone in the world could possibly see them - on the blog, they straightened up (a bit!) and posed quite nicely - that's my girls! 🙂 Of course we had to stop for a treat on the way to church - just to warm our cold noses - and our tummies too!
Lemony Chicken and Rice Soup
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium shallot, diced
1 clove garlic , finely minced
3 stalks celery, diced
4 medium carrots, halved and cut crosswise into ½-inch slices
2 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock or broth
6 ounces fresh baby spinach or regular spinach, coarsely chopped
2 cups shredded cooked chicken, (I used rotisserie chicken)
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, start with 2 and add more, to taste
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
3 medium scallions, very thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, shallot, garlic, celery and carrots and cook for 4-5 minutes until the onions are beginning to soften.
2. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 25-30 minutes.
4. Remove the bay leaves and add the chicken, spinach and lemon juice - cover and let sit for a few minutes before serving. Taste and add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed.
5. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a scoop of rice and a shower of scallions.
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Chris, what a lovely post trip "post". The lemony chicken soup sounds like the most perfect lunch at this very moment. Great presentation.
I have made chicken soup three times in the last month and I feel a new variation coming on! I love your photos, as always, they are stunning. I can't wait to try this!
This soup looks so good!!! When I make regular chicken noodle soup, I put in more chicken than I need, then take some out and shred it for other recipes, and this would be perfect for that! I have already printed it and can't wait to try it! And what a double bonus today, the girls are absolutely adorable. I LOVE the face she is making in the first picture. I really like candid shots better than plain old on -your-best -behavior ones. The giggles and smiles are priceless, I would never want to leave them!
So sorry - I'm suffering from a bit of jet lag. It's 2 tablespoons of lemon juice- I'll addit to the recipe when I get home- thanks!
Welcome back Chris! Your dish is so artistic, I love it! I cant have enough of these sweet faces, they are adorable!
Hugs!
How much lemon juice?
I am so happy that you got time to be with your daughter and grandaughters in London. I hope to make it to see my girl this year too. (after the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee.)
Welcome home.
Fondly,
Glenda
I am glad you had a good time,dear!The pictures are great!This soup makes my mouth water!xxx
These smiles are so cute! This soup looks really good, it would make a perfect lunch!
That lemon peel really ups the ante on this soup. Welcome home and those girls are so adorable!
Such beautiful little smiles. It must do your heart good to visit. Now that you're back home I love the idea of adding the rice as a scoop at the end for all the reasons you mentioned.
I must say, every recipe I have made from you blog has turned out wonderfully! I have more recipes saved that I can not wait to try, including this soup! Thank you!
I saw a Starbucks cup in one of the pictures! 🙂 Your soup looks wonderful, I love a chicken and rice soup. Glad your home, it looks like you had a lot of fun!
Beautiful family and soup! Lemon and chicken really are a great pair.
Aww such gorgeous photos! I love the poses.
This soup looks like a lovely warmer. I like what you did with the lemon peel. Very fancy!