Creamy Chicken Soup with Rice

Source: adapted slightly from Quiche the Cook blog

Ingredients:
1 small chicken breast, diced
3 medium-sized carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 Tbs oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cans chicken broth
~1 cup water
1/2 cup rice
1 teaspoon rosemary (I just shaked a few shakes - it was probably less than a teaspoon, but I don't really know)
1 teaspoon sage (I don't have sage, so I subbed marjoram - and it was, again, probably less than a teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk (or you could use cream)

Directions:
In a medium-large pot, heat the oil and cook chicken pieces (seasoning with salt and pepper to taste).  Once chicken is cooked through, remove from pan and set aside.  Saute the carrots, celery and onions in the residual oil and chicken juices until the onions become translucent.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Add the chicken broth, water, rice, diced chicken, rosemary, sage, salt & pepper and let the mixture come to a boil.  Continue to cook until the carrots can be pierced with a fork and the rice is cooked (10-12 minutes) (I actually let it simmer low and slow for a good long while - like an hour, but if you don't have that kind of time, a few minutes is probably fine).

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and flour until there are no clumps.  Stir this mixture into the soup and stir until fully incorporated.  Cook another 2 minutes (or another hour if you have the time), or until it thickens slightly.

Notes:
Ever since I saw this recipe I couldn't get the poems by Maurice Sendak out of my head.

"In January

it's so nice

while slipping

on the sliding ice

to sip hot chicken soup

with rice."

In fact, as I made this soup tonight, I recited every month of chicken soup poems that I could remember (I did have to peek at the book a few times because I got stumped on April and June and July).

Let me just say, this soup is awesome.  I didn't really change a ton from the original recipe - mostly just upped some of the ingredients so we would have more to eat (and more leftover for lunch tomorrow).  Gregg, Cal and I all had second helpings tonight - it was just so flavorful and warm and hearty.  Served up with a fat slice of some crusty artisan bread (homemade, and oh-so-easy, no less) we had a magnificent dinner on a chilly January night.