About a year or so ago I was looking through a chicken cook book, you know the kind, the ones that claim to have a recipe for everything.  My dad said that he wanted soup, and we had some leftover cooked chicken, so I was cook book diving.  Well the chicken cook book had a chicken and rice soup, but it sounded so unappetising.  It was heavy cream, rice and chicken, and that was about it.   There was hardly anything in it to give it flavor.   It sounded bland.  Not to mention the amount of fat in heavy cream.  My dad didn't want to have heavy cream in the soup, nor would he go out and buy it.  I had to come up with a way to make a creamy chicken soup with the things we had in the house.  This is what I came up with. I was inspired by the Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice soup that they have at Panera.  I love the soup I came up with because it is sumptuous and full of veggies (those that know me know I'm not a veggie eater ).  To me this is the epitome of comfort.  All I need now is some home made bread, and it would be a perfect meal!

3/4 C. chopped white onion or about one medium onion

1 medium carrot sliced in half and chopped thin 

1 medium stalk of celery sliced thin 

4 oz. cremini or button mushrooms roughly chopped (optional) 

olive oil 

1/2 tsp. each of garlic powder, salt and pepper 

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup (I try to use the 98% fat free)

Enough milk to fill the can

2 XL Knorr Chicken bouillon cubes*

4 cups water 

2 cups precooked chopped chicken 

3/4 C. long grain rice 

3/4 C. frozen peas 

Add olive oil to a pan large enough to hold all of the liquids.  When hot, add mushrooms.  When the mushrooms have lightly browned, add the carrots, celery, and onion, one at a time giving each of them a chance to soften.  Add the salt, and pepper, stir.  Break up the bouillon in the pan, then add the water and condensed soup.  Take the milk and make sure to get all of the soup out of the can.  Stir until the condensed soup has mixed into the water evenly.  Add garlic powder**.  When the broth comes to a simmer add the chicken. Cover.  Wait until the mixture boils before adding the rice.  Stir throughly and cover. Cook rice for 18 minutes.  Add peas and cook for another 4 minutes.   

Serves about 6 

*I have always made this soup with these bouillon cubes because they are really nicely seasoned and add a great flavor.  They are my favorite kind, and no, they didn't pay me to say that or anything.  If you don't use these cubes, you wouldn't need to use the 4 cups of water or the bouillon, you would just substitute 4 cups of good chicken stock instead. 

**Garlic power burns easily so if you take too long before you add the water into the pan you might end up with a nasty mess. I don't normally add it there, I add it in with the salt and pepper, but I go quickly. It's up to you. 

A note about the liquid.  It's really important to use the correct amounts of liquid in this soup.  I'm normally not a big measurer when it comes to cooking, but with this soup, the liquids and the rice are a big thing you need to be sure you are spot on with.  If you add too much rice it will be way to thick, and let me tell you, it's not so great.  The lush, creamy consistency will be lost if you add too much liquid. Though adding too much liquid is easier to fix than too much rice. Simmering uncovered will let it evaporate a bit. 

I hope you like this dish as much as my family does! 

"There's nothing to forgive. I've never stopped loving you, and I know that you've never stopped loving me. It was just anger and shame that blinded you. As to nothing ever being the same, well, different can sometimes be just as as nice as what you already know and like."
Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner

"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?"
Albert Einstein

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles."
Charlie Chaplin