lemon orzo chicken soup

 

when the dark clouds crowd the sky and there is wind and rain, i crave soup. i also just realized that when that kind of weather hits, i also crave lemon. it must be something about the way lemon is bright and tart and perks up just about anything, even people.

 the base of this soup is that luscious chicken stock that i made the other day. once that was made, i shredded the chicken and set that aside.

next, i diced 1 carrot, 2 celery stalks and 1/2 yellow onion. i sauteed those ingredients, in a dutch oven over medium heat, in some olive oil for about 8 minutes until they were nice and soft, then i added 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 2 fresh bay leaves and a little salt and pepper. 

i poured in maybe 6 cups of the chicken stock and 1 cup dried orzo and simmered that for about 10-15 minutes until the orzo and vegetables were cooked through. 

lastly, i added the shredded chicken (maybe 1 cup) and the juice of 2 lemons. this is when i gave it a good stir and tasted it to see if it needed more lemon juice, salt or pepper.

we love this soup served on a cold, windy night, parmesan dusted on top.