New Fall, New Spin on a Classic Recipe

I know, I've been a deadbeat blogger for the past few months.  But, with the arrival of Fall comes new schedules and for me, a renewed interest in blogging.  Now, I never lost my love of sharing things with people, but life has gotten in the way over the past four months: an extra busy job, multiple responsibilities with juggling family and career, a new addition to our family (of the four legged variety) and Hubby transitioning into retirement, has left little time for sitting in front of my computer.  Now I have a huge list of blogs and finding the time to share them is the real problem!

So with that, another recipe blog.  I know, too many in a row, but hey, it's a start!  Around our house, Fall signals more time in the kitchen baking fantastic harvest recipes, lots of crumbles and pies, slow cooking and making a wide variety of our favorite simple meal: soup.  I love chicken soup.  With vegetables, a simple clear broth or with a variety of grains from Quinoa to basic Jasmine rice, it's always a winner for me.  So on a recent surf across a few food sites I came across a fantastically simple twist on this classic recipe: Curried Chicken Soup.  This makes a great light meal, and the overall flavor is that of a sweet curry.  My daughter loved this soup, and I have to admit, it came to work with me repeatedly, until the pot was empty last week!

So, now my 100 chicken recipes has increased to 101.  Thank you Food Network -  I'm certain this soup will hit our table several times over the course of the season!

Curried Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 1 bone-in chicken breast (about 1 1/2 pounds), halved
• 2 medium carrots, sliced diagonally into 2-inch pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
• 1/3 cup jasmine rice
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

Combine the chicken, carrots, bay leaf and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Add 3 cups broth and bring to a boil; immediately reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is just firm, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in another saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt; cook until the onion is soft, 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the rice and the remaining 3 cups broth. Increase the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the rice falls apart, 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken from its broth; discard the skin and shred the meat into pieces. Return the shredded chicken to the same broth.
Puree the rice mixture with an immersion blender until smooth (or use a regular blender, then return to the pan). Pour in the shredded chicken and broth, stirring gently to combine; bring to a simmer. Toss in the chopped herbs and serve the soup with lemon wedges.