Chicken Orzo Soup - A fall favorite
- Catrina White
- Oct 27, 2019
- 5 min read
Fall finally arrived and we are breaking out our fall favorite soups – and Chicken Orzo soup is Grant's favorite soup. This soup is so easy to make and yummy, too! Before we begin, let me catch you up a bit on all that has been going on since it's been a couple weeks since we've posted!
Grant continues to work on college applications, writing essays, completing forms, and he just got his latest (and last) scores back from the ACT/SAT process. He really worked hard to be in charge of his own education and I'm hoping he will get the answers back from colleges he is hoping for so he can begin the process of narrowing down his decision. Until that first yes comes, there's nothing to decide yet! (I think I'm more anxious than he is – and for NO REASON! He has done very well and will get into college! LOL) He also got his Senior pictures made at school. His response, "I drove 20 minutes for a picture I don't even want and drove home for 20 minutes." Haha. Well, I want them! But this gives you even more of an idea of how cool it is that he accepted my challenge to learn to cook!
While helping him through the process of applications and all things Senior has not made me the "coolest mom," I did get that status recently when I accepted HIS challenge to play Minecraft (I'll write more about that for the next post)! I thought I had escaped having to do something (tit for tat!), but nope. It was entertaining to say the least! Some were more entertained than others. Can you guess who?
Fall is my favorite time of year. Growing up in Maine, the fall colors were amazing. I love living in Georgia, but the colors here are nothing like what I experienced growing up. This time of year I am always ready for cooler weather, sweaters, comfort food, and on the best nights, a fire in the fireplace. I also loved taking my kids to Burt's Pumpkin Farm when they were little. Time has gone by too quickly!
This process of cooking with Grant has been such a great experience. He has really grown in his skills already, but more importantly, we are having fun together. It isn't lost on me that he will be gone in a few months. I'm enjoying every second I can with him now.
Soup's on!
Chicken Orzo Soup is one of Grant's favorite soups, and it is one of mine, too! I love how quickly it comes together, it is healthy, and it has that comfort food feeling. We began by removing the chicken from the rotisserie chicken that I purchased - already cooked. When you get them from store, removing the chicken right away is ideal. When it is warm, it removes so easily. However, I had bought ours the day before and it required a bit more work. You can also use shredded chicken you might have already cooked at another time, or just cut chicken breast into smaller sized chunks and sauté that in a bit of olive oil before continuing with the soup. But the easiest way? Rotisserie chicken!
And we aren't the only ones who love it when we have rotisserie chicken! Yes, he washed his hands after feeding her! He's a bit like his mama! At least when it comes to being clean while cooking!
Once the chicken was ready, we then tackled chopping an onion. Have you noticed that we chop a lot of onions? I really like them, especially the Vidalia onions and unless I know someone hates them, they make it into most of my savory dishes.
Next, we sautéed the onion in a bit of olive oil. I guess we used about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. You want enough to get the onion cooking gently but not so much that your soup becomes oily. I had Grant pour some in the pan, and add a little more, and add a little bit more to that! I'm guessing on the amount, but it seems about right. This is how I cook!!
Once the onions began to soften (about 3 or so minutes), we added the chicken broth. I like to use prepared broth because it is easy, but you could use homemade broth as well. I often buy the reduced sodium but didn't this time. He added 2 boxes of the broth.
After adding the broth, we seasoned with salt and pepper. (Remember how I said I usually buy reduced sodium broth? I think we actually added too much salt to this soup. We SHOULD HAVE tasted the broth first for saltiness! If you find yourself with a too salty soup, you can either add water to dilute, or drop a potato into the soup and cook for a bit. It will absorb the saltiness!)
Once the broth was heated, we added the orzo (a rice shaped pasta) and chicken. We also added the spinach. I like using spinach that has already been washed – triple washed is what I usually see in stores – and yes, we added the whole bag. At first Grant thought it would be too much, but I assured him that the spinach cooks down and he'd be disappointed with too little.
We let the soup cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then Grant added a bit of lemon juice from a freshly squeezed lemon to brighten the soup. I taught Grant to roll the lemon on the counter before cutting and squeezing. This breaks up the flesh and makes the juice come out easier. We added just half of a lemon. You can also squeeze the lemon over a mesh strainer to be sure you do not get any seeds if you do not have a handy dandy lemon squeezer thingy! (a term I'm especially proud of)
Every recipe we make gives Grant a chance to "impress" me with his creativity. In the above photo (last one) he was showing off his amazing balancing skills. Makes a mama proud. LOL
Grant IS turning into an excellent cook! and I am so proud to be his mama!
We've heard from some of you that you are trying the recipes! Yeah!!! That makes me happy. If there is something you'd like us to tackle, just reach out! We are up for anything! Well, I am. I'll talk him into it... (wink, wink)!
Chicken Orzo Soup
1 rotisserie chicken
2 48 oz. boxes chicken broth (adjust salt depending on sodium amount)
1 onion, chopped
3 (or so) tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag of fresh spinach (be sure it has been washed)
1 1/2 cups orzo
1/2 lemon, juiced
**4 - 5 carrots, sliced (I like to add them to my soup, but Grant opted out)
Remove chicken from the bone. Chop and saute the onion in olive oil for a few minutes. (If you want to add carrots, I would do it now and saute with the onions.) Add chicken broth, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer. Add chicken, orzo, and spinach. Cook for about 10 minutes and add lemon juice. Enjoy!
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