Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

After the holidays, I finally feel a bit inspired to do more cooking. I made this up from a favorite soup I recall in a restaurant. I think it would also be fantastic with mushrooms. This soup takes a little while to cook the wild rice, but very little hands-on time is needed.

Forgot to photograph the final product!! Here it is just before adding the half & half.

Ingredients:

1 T. butter

1-2 T. olive oil

1 onion, diced

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. dry white wine (I used pinot grigio)*

4 c. chicken broth/stock

1/2 c. wild rice

3 carrots, diced

1 large chicken breast, diced quite small

1/2 to 1 full cup half and half (or heavy cream or milk would be fine)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt butter and 1 T. olive oil in medium soup pot. Saute onions over medium heat until soft.
2. Whisk in flour. Add the remaining olive oil if too dry. Cook about 2 minutes, or until just starting to brown a bit. (It will be a rather thick "glob.")
3. Whisk in wine and whisk until liquid is all absorbed.
4. Pour in chicken stock and wild rice. Cover and simmer over med-low about 45 minutes, or until the rice begins to "pop" open.
5. Add the chicken and carrots. Continue simmering covered, about 20 more minutes. 
6. Just before serving, stir in half and half and adjust seasoning to taste.

*If you're really opposed to cooking with wine, you could substitute more chicken broth. And this soup would still be delish (and lower fat) without the cream.

Mangia! (Eat!) . . . Cindy Lou Who