I recently had some dental work done, and prepared the ingredients for two soups, only to have the dentist tell me I basically couldn’t eat them until I was healed. I lived on Slimfast for a few days, but Ian ate like a king, because I made those soups anyway, gosh darn it.

I always wanted to make my own cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups, so I saw this as my perfect opportunity to try. Ian loves wild rice, so I decided to include that in my recipe. Our local grocery doesn’t carry plain wild rice, only mixes, so I bought a box of Rice-A-Roni long grain and wild rice, and used that.

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

6 c. chicken broth

1 packet wild rice mix (with seasoning)

4 boneless chicken breasts

1 c chopped carrots

1 c chopped celery

1 c chopped onions

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tbsp butter

1 c flour

4 c half & half

salt & pepper to taste

In a crock pot, place veggies, rice mix, seasonings and chicken breasts. Add stock and cook on low 5-6 hours. Remove chicken breasts from crock pot, cut into chunks (or shred with two forks) and return chicken to the pot. In a saucepan on the stove, melt butter and add a little flour. Whisk together and add some half & half, whisking until smooth. Alternate adding flour and half & half until it’s all combined and you have reached the desired thickness. Add more flour if you prefer a thicker soup, or less to thin (but remember, you’re going to add this to the broth remaining in the pot, so you won’t want it too thin!) Add to crock pot and mix well.