Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Labor Day weekend finally is here and gave me more and more opportunities to cook and shop, two things I love to do. I've noticed the more I'm cooking the more pots and pans and utensils that I'm lacking. So before heading to the store to buy all my ingredients to make several recipes I've earmarked in several cookbooks (including watching Food Network as usual), I decided to get some of my kitchen supplies in order. I headed to Target as I figured I could find what I needed cheaply and pick up some new lipgloss too (a girls got to stay pretty even while cooking). So I got a spring release cake pan (forgot to get just a regular cake pan too), cooling rack and some tongs.
Then I hit the store with my list of ingredients to make a full on meal for myself. The menu is to include lemon chicken orzo soup, heirloom tomato bread salad and yogurt lemon cake. Unfortunately I'm only got time for the soup, but it was well worth it.
This soup was a cross between the greek lemon/egg soup Avgolemono and chicken with rice soup. It has a slight tartness from the fresh lemon juice and the protein and carbs to fill you up. My recipe turned out a little more cloudy then the picture in the cookbook, I think I might have over-whisked my egg lemon juice combo. In fact you couldn't see any of the chicken or rice but it was in there. Also I burnt my onions while whipping together the second part of the ingredients, but you couldn't taste it and it added some extra color to the soup (I omitted the carrots and celery as I don't like either cooked). Otherwise it was pretty quick to whip up and enjoy right away. I was expecting a long simmer process to be considered soup, but really in total the cooking time was under 30 minutes. The only thing I was hesitant about was another pot of hot oil and chicken (if you read my jerk chicken blog you would know why), but luckily this is a pot and not a skillet so no need to worry.
Luckily I had also purchased some artisan bread for my tomato and bread salad that I was to make (we'll try that tomorrow along with the yogurt lemon cake). So I cut off a few slices, toasted them and then rubbed fresh garlic on them for a hint of flavor. It turned out to be a very filling dinner, very tasty and lots of leftovers. I highly recommend this recipe and can't wait for fall to have lots of different soups.

Here is the recipe from the Food You Crave cookbook:

4 tsp olive oil
8 oz boneless chicken, cut into small chunks
1 med onion, diced (approx. 1 1/2 cup)
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 med carrot, diced
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
6 cups low sodium organic chicken broth
2 large eggs
3 tbl fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and add it to the pot and cook, stirring a few times until just cooked through (about 5 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a dish and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot and thyme and cook, stirring over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender (about 5 minutes). Add 5 cups of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and let simmer until tender (about 8 minutes). Turn heat down to low to keep the soup hot but not boiling.
Warm the remaining 1 cup of broth in a small saucepan until it is hot, but NOT boiling. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually whisk the lemon juice into the eggs. Then gradually add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture (You can't have the broth too hot or it will cook the eggs). Add the mixture to the soup, stirring well until the soup is thickened. Do not let the soup come to a boil (again this will cook the eggs). Add the cooked chicken to the soup. Season with salt and pepper and serve.