Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I really love this blog called Budget Bytes and I have a lot of her recipes saved and I finally got around to making one! We had some friends over the other night and I made this then and everyone really liked it. I changed a few minor things, mostly because of the ingredients I had (or didn't have) on hand. I've never used wild rice in any recipes before...it's tasty stuff!

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 small or medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1.5 c. diced carrots

1 c. diced celery

1 large zucchini, diced (optional. I had one that I needed to use)

2 chicken breasts

4 c. (32 oz box) fat free chicken broth

2 c. water

1 tbsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

1 c. wild rice mix

2 tbsp. butter (I used Smart Balance)

2 tbsp. white flour

2 c. milk (I used 2%)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic to the hot oil and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Next, add the carrots, celery and zucchini (if using) and saute for an additional 5 minutes. Add the chicken breasts (whole and raw), broth, water, parsley, italian seasoning, salt, pepper and dry rice mix. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.

Near the end of the hour, begin to make the creamy mixture. In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. When it is fully melted, whisk in the flour. Cook and stir the butter and flour mixture for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and allow it to come to a simmer, whisking occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. Once it reaches a simmer, it will have thickened slightly.

Carefully remove the chicken breasts from the soup and shred or dice with a knife and fork and add back to the pot. Slowly stir the creamy milk mixture and serve hot. Makes 8 servings.