(happy music)
Hi there.
Now, who doesn't like chicken soup?
I sure do, especially when it's a heart healthy
and flavorful recipe like this chicken vegetable soup
with orzo and spinach that I'm sharing with you today.
Let's get cooking.
I'm using a large, heavy duty pot.
For this particular recipe, we need four cups
of low sodium chicken broth,
three cups of water,
one quarter teaspoon of dried thyme,
and one quarter teaspoon of dry dill.
I'm going to bring that to a boil over high heat.
Once that's boiling, we'll add in the chicken.
Our broth is boiling, and now I'm adding in
one and a half pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast.
I've trimmed off all of the visible fat.
White meat chicken, like chicken breast without the skin
have less calories and less saturated fat
compared to dark meat chicken.
That's what I usually buy at the store.
I'm going to cover that and lower the heat to medium
so the broth is just simmering,
which means you'll see bubbles slowing coming up
to the surface but not as rapidly as if it were boiling.
I'll cook this until the chicken is cooked through,
which should take 15-20 minutes.
It's been close to 20 minutes.
I remove the chicken from the pot with my tongs,
I cut through a breast to make sure it was cooked through
and there was no pink flesh.
I chopped it into just a few more pieces
so it can cool down faster.
The internal temperature of the fully cooked chicken
should be at least 165 degrees fahrenheit.
Back to our soup pot.
I'm adding in half of a cup of uncooked whole wheat orzo,
which is a smaller type of pasta.
Whole wheat pasta is one of my favorite ways
to get more whole grains into my meals,
because we need to be eating at least
three servings a day of whole grains.
If you prefer, you could also use brown rice
instead, which is also a whole grain.
Just follow the cooking times on the package.
Next, I have one 14 ounce bag of mixed frozen vegetables.
There's corn, green beans, and carrots in this.
You could use any combination of frozen vegetables you like
or if you prefer, canned vegetables.
When using canned vegetables, compare food labels
and choose products with the lowest amount of sodium
and drain and rinse them before you add them.
Also, if you're using canned instead of frozen vegetables,
you don't need to add them in until
after the orzo is cooked, since they're already soft.
You'd add them at the end with the chicken,
just to heat them up.
I'm also adding one cup of frozen spinach,
and two teaspoons of lemon juice,
which will help brighten the flavors of the soup.
Now just stir that and let it cook over medium heat
until the vegetables are thawed
and the orzo is cooked through,
which should take about ten minutes.
My orzo is cooked through,
and my chicken is cooled down enough
that I was able to cut it into chunks.
Now, I'm just going to add the chicken back into my soup.
Then I'm going to give that a stir.
I'll give it a few more minutes for the chicken to get warm
and then we'll be ready to serve.
Our soup is done and ready to eat.
It really smells wonderful in here.
Another bonus with making homemade soup, the amazing aroma.
I'm just going to ladle some into my bowl here.
Just like most soups, this tastes even better the next day.
The orzo will actually soak up even more of the liquid
as it sits in your refrigerator, making it more like a stew,
certainly not a bad thing.
I hope you get to warm up with of a bowl
of this chicken vegetable soup with orzo and spinach soon.
It's a great way to get some veggies into your day.
(happy music)