Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon and Mint

A simple chicken soup from Portugal, featuring the delightful combination of lemon and mint.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast halves

2 medium onions

a couple celery stalks

1/3 cup uncooked rice

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

pepper

8 cups of chicken broth (homemade or canned)

4-8 tsp. chicken base (if making your own broth)

Making your own broth from scratch:

Rinse the chicken breasts and add them to a pot. Add just enough water to cover

them and then add one of the onions, peeled and quartered. Also add the celery stalks.

(I use a pressure cooker and it goes faster). Boil covered until the chicken is cooked.

Remove the chicken breasts and allow them to cool for a bit. Remove the skin and throw

it back into the boiling water. Remove the meat and set aside. Return the bones with the

skin, boiling water, onions, and celery. Continue to boil for an hour covered. (1/2 hr. in a pressure

cooker)

Strain the bones, skin, and veggies from the broth and using a broth separator, remove the fat.

This can also be done by refrigerating the broth and scraping the solid fat off the top.

Add enough water to increase the broth to 8 cups. Add 4-8 tsp. of chicken base, depending

on how salty you prefer your broth. . 4 tsp. is usually enough.

OR YOU CAN USE 8 CUPS OF CANNED BROTH

(In this case, you will have to boil the chicken and cut it up to add to the soup, but not

save the bones)

CHICKEN BASE CAN ALSO BE MIXED WITH WATER ACCORDING TO INSTRUCTIONS TO

MAKE 8 CUPS OF BROTH

Finely chop a medium onion. Bring the 8 cups of broth to a boil. Add the chopped onion

and the uncooked rice. Let this boil for about 20 mins. Meanwhile, chop up the chicken

meat. After the rice is cooked, add the chicken to the soup. I don't always add all the chicken,

maybe a couple cups. I save the rest to make chicken salad or eat as a snack! Add some pepper,

the lemon juice and the chopped mint. Let cook for 5 min. Soup is ready!!

#chicken #soup #lemon #mint