Chicken, Vegetable, and Rice Soup

I wanted to have another chicken-based soup in my repertoire with more fiber than my traditional chicken noodle soup recipe. After several experiments, I settled on using a gourmet blend of brown rice, plus zucchini and spinach as my added vegetables. I’ve been reading about the benefits of soaking grains. Soaking grains in an acidic medium for 8 to 12 hours helps to neutralize phytic acids and enzyme inhibitors making nutrients more readily available to our bodies and more easily absorbed. My husband said it was the best soup I ever made. I guess that means it’s a keeper!

Chicken, Vegetable, and Rice Soup
1 small to medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots or 8 baby carrots, sliced thin
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons of rosemary, crushed with mortar and pestle
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 zucchini, quartered with seeds removed
2 quarts of homemade chicken stock
1 quart of store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup gourmet rice soaked fresh water and the juice of one lemon for 8 hours (I used Lundberg Countrywild)
2 shredded chicken breasts or leftover oven-roasted chicken
1 cup chopped frozen spinach
salt
pinch cayenne

1) Heat olive oil in a large pot and add the onions, celery, and carrots.  Saute on low to medium heat for 7 minutes.

2)  Add zucchini and garlic and continue to saute for another two minutes stirring often so the garlic doesn’t burn.

3) Add stock, broth, rosemary and parsley to the pot.  Drain and rinse the soaked rice. Add rice to the chicken soup mixture.

4)  Bring to a low boil, turn down heat, and simmer on low for 40 minutes.  Add shredded chicken, spinach, salt, cayenne and simmer for another 5 minutes.

5) Soup’s on!