On the menu tonight
Avegolemono Artichoke Soup
3 cans chicken broth
2 cans of water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 lemons
4 boneless, skinless breasts, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 to 1 C Kefir OR plain non-fat yogurt (depending how thick & creamy you like your soup)
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 to 1 C chopped carrots (i chop mine really small with a machine)
1/2 to 1 C chopped celery (ditto carrots)
3 cloves garlic (ditto carrots)
1/4 to 1/2 onion (ditto carrots)
1 bag of frozen artichoke hearts from trader joes (or about 2 cups. try not to use the marinated kind. those change the flavor)
Orzo pasta (1 to 2 cups, depending on preference)
sea salt
black pepper
greek oregano
parsley
dollop of evoo (NO MORE than 1 tbsp)
2 tablespoons smart balance light
Start to melt the butter in a big pot. As it melts down and begins to bubble, add carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Allow to cook for a few minutes. Until the onion and garlic are clear, but if you chop like me, this will be difficult to tell, so for a few minutes.. 5+ minutes on medium heat.
Pour in 3 cans of chicken broth, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 1 can of water. Keep at medium heat.
Chop all 4 breasts (to size of your preference, i like mine relatively small). Season with sea salt, black pepper (2 to 1 ratio of pepper to salt), greek oregano, parsley, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and olive oil, mix well. Let sit for a few minutes while you heat up a skillet to cook it in.
Dump artichokes in soup. Put the squeeze lemon half in soup as well. Stir.
Heat skillet to medium, spray with Pam, dump in chicken. Cook. Dump chicken and juice into soup. Add another can of water and the 2 bouillon cubes. It should be simmering. Dump in orzo pasta. Cook for 10 minutes. Right before preparing the egg mixture, turn the heat up to high to get it boiling. Add 1/2 a lemon to the mixture again, but don't worry about squeezing all the juice out. Just squeeze it quickly to get a reasonable amount out and drop the half in the soup. The rind adds a really delicious flavor.
In separate bowl, whip your 4 eggs with a splash of water until they start to get bubbly (approximately 2 - 3 minutes). Add Kefir. Whip again. Add cornstarch. Whip again. Add juice of last 1/2 a lemon. Whip again.
Ladle one spoonful of broth very slowly into egg mixture as you're whipping the eggs. Most recipes only call for doing this with one ladle. To achieve optimum flavor and fluidness, I usually ladle 3 or 4 times into my egg mixture before adding the whole mixture to the pot of soup. I learned this from my greek best friend and his mom. It works every time!
Slowly add egg mixture to pot while stirring. Remove from heat. Keep stirring for about 2 minutes. Let stand and thicken up for 5.
SERVE!
It's really delicious. I promise. And! It's quite healthy for you! :) And believe it or not, this is actually really fast to make, at least compared to most soups i make. :)
3 cans chicken broth
2 cans of water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 lemons
4 boneless, skinless breasts, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 to 1 C Kefir OR plain non-fat yogurt (depending how thick & creamy you like your soup)
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 to 1 C chopped carrots (i chop mine really small with a machine)
1/2 to 1 C chopped celery (ditto carrots)
3 cloves garlic (ditto carrots)
1/4 to 1/2 onion (ditto carrots)
1 bag of frozen artichoke hearts from trader joes (or about 2 cups. try not to use the marinated kind. those change the flavor)
Orzo pasta (1 to 2 cups, depending on preference)
sea salt
black pepper
greek oregano
parsley
dollop of evoo (NO MORE than 1 tbsp)
2 tablespoons smart balance light
Start to melt the butter in a big pot. As it melts down and begins to bubble, add carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Allow to cook for a few minutes. Until the onion and garlic are clear, but if you chop like me, this will be difficult to tell, so for a few minutes.. 5+ minutes on medium heat.
Pour in 3 cans of chicken broth, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 1 can of water. Keep at medium heat.
Chop all 4 breasts (to size of your preference, i like mine relatively small). Season with sea salt, black pepper (2 to 1 ratio of pepper to salt), greek oregano, parsley, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and olive oil, mix well. Let sit for a few minutes while you heat up a skillet to cook it in.
Dump artichokes in soup. Put the squeeze lemon half in soup as well. Stir.
Heat skillet to medium, spray with Pam, dump in chicken. Cook. Dump chicken and juice into soup. Add another can of water and the 2 bouillon cubes. It should be simmering. Dump in orzo pasta. Cook for 10 minutes. Right before preparing the egg mixture, turn the heat up to high to get it boiling. Add 1/2 a lemon to the mixture again, but don't worry about squeezing all the juice out. Just squeeze it quickly to get a reasonable amount out and drop the half in the soup. The rind adds a really delicious flavor.
In separate bowl, whip your 4 eggs with a splash of water until they start to get bubbly (approximately 2 - 3 minutes). Add Kefir. Whip again. Add cornstarch. Whip again. Add juice of last 1/2 a lemon. Whip again.
Ladle one spoonful of broth very slowly into egg mixture as you're whipping the eggs. Most recipes only call for doing this with one ladle. To achieve optimum flavor and fluidness, I usually ladle 3 or 4 times into my egg mixture before adding the whole mixture to the pot of soup. I learned this from my greek best friend and his mom. It works every time!
Slowly add egg mixture to pot while stirring. Remove from heat. Keep stirring for about 2 minutes. Let stand and thicken up for 5.
SERVE!
It's really delicious. I promise. And! It's quite healthy for you! :) And believe it or not, this is actually really fast to make, at least compared to most soups i make. :)