The snow storm of 2014 that consisted of 2 inches of snow and chilled us Southerners to the bone has turned into sunshine and 50 degrees and distant memories of perfect snow days. I love January to pieces and snow days that slide right up to a hint of Spring make me love my Southern homeland even more. As soon as the thaw began, I started craving lemon and hunting my flip flops.
Then, I remembered how much I love this recipe. Let me just say that this soup tastes like late winter meets early spring more than anything else I know. It’s like winter meets spring and takes her to a square dance with daisies in her hair. Or something just as precious. Put it on your weekend menu! You won’t be sorry.
Instead of using cream as a thickening agent, this one uses egg yolks. Don’t let that scare you. It’s easy to do and has the best silky texture ever!! The girls LOVE it almost as much as we do! Stevie likes this soup almost as much as he likes beef stew. Okay, maybe the lemon has gone to my head, but he thinks it’s pretty dandy.
What you’ll need:
- 2 T butter & 3 T olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2-3 stalks of celery, diced
- 10 baby carrots, diced
- 2 T butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 2-3 cups cooked chicken (I usually use one rotisserie chicken and cut the white meat into bite sized chunks)
- 2 boxes chicken stock (32 oz per box, may also need to add a 1/2 to a cup of water, if it gets too thick at the end)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed (2-3 lemons, depending on the size and juiciness!)
- 2 T. honey
- 1/2 white pepper
- 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 6 egg yolks, beaten to a light yellow color
What you’ll do:
- Saute the chopped onion, celery and carrots in the butter and oil, until the onions are translucent.
- Add the flour, with salt and pepper and cook the flour for about a minute.
- Add the chicken stock and fresh lemon juice and stir to loosen the flour and all the bits of caramelized onion from the bottom.
- Add rice, bring to boil, stirring frequent enough to keep the rice from sticking, and then turn the heat down to low.
- Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- Add the chicken, spinach, honey, salt, and pepper
- Beat the egg yolks until light in color. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return the egg mixture to the soup pot and heat through.
- DO NOT boil the soup once you add the egg yolks.
ENJOY!!! This is your Feb 1st recipe for the new menu plan! See you on Monday for the full February Meal Plan. I’ll be sharing our Super Bowl food on Facebook soon, but you might consider making some homemade brownies or my favorite crowd pleaser chocolate chip cookie recipe. What are your Super Bowl Food plans?! I’m linking with Ruth’s Thrifty Thursday, so check out all the other recipes/projects/etc!
P.S. I’m listening to all your wonderful suggestions and trying to implement as many as possible. Here’s your easy-to-print recipe!
Lemon smooches,
edie
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 T butter & 3 T olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2-3 stalks of celery diced
- 10 baby carrots diced
- 2 T butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 2-3 cups cooked chicken I usually use one rotisserie chicken and cut the white meat into bite sized chunks
- 2 boxes chicken stock 32 oz per box, may also need to add a 1/2 to a cup of water, if it gets too thick at the end
- 1/2 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed
- 2 T. honey
- 1/2 white pepper
- 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 6 egg yolks beaten to a light yellow color
Instructions
- Saute the chopped onion, celery and carrots in the butter and oil, until the onions are translucent.
- Add the flour, with salt and pepper and cook the flour for about a minute.
- Add the chicken stock and fresh lemon juice and stir to loosen the flour and all the bits of caramelized onion from the bottom.
- Add rice, bring to boil, stirring frequent enough to keep the rice from sticking, and then turn the heat down to low.
- Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- Add the chicken, spinach, honey, salt, and pepper.
- Beat the egg yolks until light in color. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly.
- Return the egg mixture to the soup pot and heat through.
- DO NOT boil the soup once you add the egg yolks.