Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup with Chicken

As soon as cold weather hits, I go into soup mode. There's nothing as comforting and satisfying as a good bowl of hot soup! I'm a huge mushroom fan and yet I'd never made a wild rice and mushroom soup before. This is a delicious and healthy soup that goes great with some lightly toasted bread on a miserably cold winter day. And Sunny and Rosy enjoy getting some chicken bits as I'm cooking the soup so they are usually camped out right by my side as I make this.

Servings: 4 (although for me I can easily make this a 2-3 night meal)

Ingredients:
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
½ cup wild rice (dry)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
⅓ cup baby carrots, chopped
2 tsp bottled minced garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
8-10 oz mushrooms (shiitake, cremini and/or oyster), sliced
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tablespoon cider vinegar (or whatever vinegar you like and have on hand)

Instructions:

• Cook ½ cup rice according to instructions and set aside.
• Heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray.  Add 1 cup chopped onion, 1 chopped red bell pepper, ⅓ cup chopped baby carrots, 2 tsp minced garlic, and 1 tsp dried thyme.  Saute for three minutes, stirring occasionally.  
• Stir in 8-10 oz sliced mushrooms.  Saute for 13-15 minutes until dark brown and the juices from the mushrooms have been released. It's important to spend the time sauteing the mushrooms because this is where the soup gets most of its flavor from.
• Add  6 cups of chicken broth, and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven.  
• Add the rice, 2 cups shredded chicken breast, and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 20 minutes.  
• Stir in ½ tbsp (or more if you’d like) cider vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and then enjoy!  

Inspired by My Recipes.