chicken and orzo soup is good for the soul.

bad days are just plain.. bad.  but nothing makes a crummy day better than food!  especially comfort food.  did you ever get sick and stay home from school when you were younger, and ask for chicken noodle soup to make you feel better? your mom's version was always the best, but i sure did love Chicken and Stars, too :] mmm.  good memories.

well, you surely don't need to be feeling sick to have a warm bowl of soup cheer you up!  (and it doesn't even have to be winter-- it was 95 degrees today and i just cranked up the AC while i enjoyed my lunch!) my own version of chicken noodle has a few key variations:  i use orzo instead of the wide egg noodles, and always stir in fresh corn right off the cob at the very end.  my soup is thicker and richer and full of childhood memories! get ready for a super healthy and super cheap one-pot-meal!

i started by collecting my veg: one small onion, a pint of baby button mushrooms, two medium carrots, and one ear of corn.  *note: if corn is not in season, no worries-- the frozen kind works great.  just please don't use canned corn (yucky)!  in a medium pot, i added a nice splash of olive oil and let it heat up as i chopped my veg.  i diced my onion in to good chunks (remember, the veg will cook down but you want it big enough so that it wont disintegrate!), and cut the carrot in to similarly sized pieces.  i personally just washed the carrots well but did not peel them because they had a very thin peel.  if you are more comfortable with it, however, go ahead and peel away!  i quartered my mushrooms and de-husked the ear of corn (set the corn aside for later).  once the oil was hot, i added the carrots and onion and sauteed them for a minute or so to soften.  then i added my mushrooms and about a clove of garlic.  hint: if you are a college kid like me, or find that your fresh garlic goes bad before you have a chance to use it-- consider getting pre-minced garlic from the store.  its a great staple to have in the fridge and has a much longer shelf life!

after about five minutes of sauteeing the veg, i added small bite-size pieces of chicken breast that i chopped earlier.  i also added a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.  at this point, i grabbed my orzo from the pantry and eyeballed just over a cup right in to the pot.  i like to let the orzo absorb some of the sauteeing juices from the veg and let it brown up slightly from the olive oil and the heat of the pot before i add my chicken broth.  in goes two 14 oz. cans of broth (i personally like to add the low-sodium canned chicken broth so i can control the salt myself).  if you don't have chicken broth on hand, a great substitute is an equivalent amount of hot water with two chicken bullion cubes dissolved in each 14 oz. of water.  pop the top on the pot and simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes of simmering, drop the fresh (or frozen) corn into the soup, stir, and replace the lid.  **its always important to check your food for seasoning purposes-- add salt and pepper to taste!**

once the orzo has soaked up the chicken broth and become niiiice and tender, you're ready to dish it up!  i recommend some lovely crusty croutons right on top or a warm roll on the side.  this soup is definitely one you should eat out of a mug (my absolute favorite way to eat anything!) with a great big spoon.

and here it is!

Chicken and Orzo Soup

now if its summer, go crank that AC unit while you enjoy this meal!