Comfort Food

This is a delicious crock pot recipe for chicken soup with wild rice, which is my absolute favorite comfort food. This one is easy, but will need time in the crock pot to work. Assemble it the night before, load the crock and put it in the fridge. Put it in the crock pot just before you leave for work in the morning and you'll come home to wonderful smells and fresh soup when you return. On a Monday night, when you know you have the day from hell in front of you in the morning, toss this together and come home Tuesday night to something which will make you glad to slip your shoes off and fill a bowl.

The bruschetta below will go with this to make it the ultimate comfort food meal.

2/3 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed, drained
1 chopped medium yellow or white onion
45 ounces canned low sodium chicken broth (about 4 twelve ounce cans)
2 medium carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced, including the leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
2 bay leaves
1/3 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cubed in a half inch dice
1 cup fresh brocolli flowerettes
1 commercial bag of spinach, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped parsley
Salt to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except parsely, spinach and broccoli in a crockpot. Stir to combine. Cover; cook on low for 8-9 hours. 15 minutes before serving, stir in parsley, spinach and broccoli and remove the bay leaves. Heat on high for 15 minutes or until vegetables are heated. Adjust seasoning and add salt if needed.

This recipe for Chicken Wild Rice Soup serves/makes 8. Freeze down the extra in single portion containers, and you have lunch in the office on Wednesday.

Add one egg beaten with a teaspoon of lemon juice in each serving and you have Greek Egg Lemon soup, my favorite cold and flu cure with a Minnesota twist.

Pick up a gyro at the local deli to round this out (or make your own) and you'll have a lunch which is the envy of the break room. You will need Tzatziki with you in a separate container. Here's the recipe:

1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, not peeled, seeded and finely chopped plus a few thin slices
1/1-2 teaspoons salt
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or dill plus additional sprigs
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
Spoon yogurt into sieve lined with cheesecloth or coffee filter set over bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight. Transfer drained yogurt to medium bowl and discard liquid. You can easily do this in an old-fashioned Melitta coffee filter holder lined with a filter. Just cover the top with plastic wrap so the yoghurt doesn't pick up any "off" flavors from the fridge.

Meanwhile, in colander set over a bowl, toss chopped cucumber with 1 teaspoon salt. Let drain at least 1 hour at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours. In batches, wrap chopped cucumber in kitchen towel and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Pat dry with paper towels, then add to bowl with yogurt.

With the flat side of a chef's knife, mash the garlic to a paste with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add garlic, chopped mint, oil, vinegar, and pepper to yogurt and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 or up to 4 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature, topped with cucumber slices and mint sprigs.

Yield: about 1-1/2 cups

This is so good that it is hard to remember to just not eat it right out of the bowl. Well, sometimes I do, with some baked pita chips on the side. But it is spectacular on a gyro with tomatoes and a little feta, or topping a bowl of soup. It'll keep about three days in the fridge.