Soup’s On! Lemon Chicken Soup with Beer Bread

For today’s soup, I decided to go with traditional chicken. After all, cold and flu season is upon us! But this is an updated version of the classic. It’s super creamy and has orzo instead of noodles. I got it from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life, so it has the Food Network seal of approval! I wanted to make it into a hearty dinner, so I was going to buy fresh bread…then I realized I could just make my own!

I found this beer bread recipe last Christmas from A Year in Bread and gave it as a gift along with a block of good cheese. (You can also make the dry mix and put it in a cute bag, and then give a 6-pack of nice beer with it for a great unisex $10 gift). It’s so easy and there are only a few ingredients! Plus, it’s very customizable. You can use any type of flour, any type of beer, and any add-ins that strike your fancy, to get a totally customized loaf. I made this using whole-wheat flour and Bud Light, because that’s what I had handy, but in the future, I think I’ll pair whole-wheat flour with a darker beer, and save the Bud Light for white flour. Whatever you choose, it’s so enjoyable. And you can freeze it!

Beer Bread

3 cups flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1.5 cups beer (There will be a little bit left in the bottle. Feel free to take a swig!)

Optional glaze: 1 egg, 2 tsp water, beaten

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients.

Get out the secret ingredient!

Slowly stir in beer and mix until combined. (I rolled up my sleeves and kneaded it a bit.) It will be very thick. Spread in a loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. Glaze with egg mixture if desired. (I didn’t glaze it evenly this time, so I ended up with a scrambled egg on one end.)

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then out of the pan for another ten minutes.

Easy-peasy! While the bread was baking, I got the soup on.

Lemon Chicken Soup

4 tsp olive oil

8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into small chunks

Pinch of salt, plus more to taste,

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried

6 cups no-sodium chicken broth

1 cup orzo

2 large eggs

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat 2 tsp oil in the soup pot over medium heat. Season chicken with salt, add to the pot, and cook, stirring, until it’s cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a dish and set aside. [I skipped this step and used leftover chicken from the Saucy Lemon recipe; putting leftover meat in soup is a great way to use it up.]

Add the remaining 2 tsp of oil to the pot. Add onion, celery, carrot, and thyme and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add 5 cups of broth and bring to a boil.

Add the orzo and let it simmer, about 8 minutes. Orzo, by the way, is like a cross between rice and pasta. I found it in the pasta aisle at the grocery store, in a very small box.

Warm the remaining cup of broth in a small saucepan until it is hot, but not boiling.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually whisk in the lemon juice.

Then gradually add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking the whole time. It will be thick and creamy.

Add the mixture to the soup, stirring until the soup is thickened. The soup will go from “Oh, hey, is that Campbells?” to “Oh, WOW, what’s cooking?”

Add the cooked chicken to the soup and season with salt and pepper. Serve with the warm beer bread.

This soup is so hearty! I didn’t have an entire serving because I was nice and full. It’s sort of like chicken and dumplings, but much healthier. To be honest, I might make it without the chicken next time. There’s enough flavor from the broth and protein from the eggs and orzo, and the chicken seemed like more of an afterthought. If you have chicken, go for it, but it’s something to consider if you want to save money and eat less meat.

The bread is just sensational. I think I am going to make it every week. I mean, why not? You can get a lot of loaves out of one trip to the store for ingredients!

The soup has, per cup, 187 calories, 7 grams fat, 17 g protein, 15 g carbs, 1 g fiber. I don’t know about the bread, but I promise you’ll be OK to drive.

Tagged as: beer, chicken, Healthy Cooking, healthy recipes, lemons, soup