Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I received this recipe from one of the ladies that I serve with in our church's Relief Society women's activity committee.  We made it for one of our activities and it was so good!  I accidentally boiled the rice too long and all of the broth disappeared; thankfully I had a 32 ox box of broth in my pantry so I just poured that in and added some water to it to make up the difference and lessen the saltiness.  Even with this mishap (or, who knows, maybe because of) this soup was so delicious.  I have another chicken and rice soup recipe on here that I made in the fall, and it was good too, but this one might be the close winner.  Though, that could be because I'm a sucker for a creamy soup.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 (49.5oz) can of chicken broth (6 cups)

1 lb chicken breast, diced

½ cup uncooked wild rice

½ cup uncooked brown rice

½ lrg onion, finely diced

2 carrots, grated

2 ribs celery, finely diced

¼ cup sliced almonds (can substitute with diced water chestnuts)

¼ cup butter

½ cup flour   

1 cup half & half

-Cook chicken and dice it.

-Boil broth & rices in a large pot.  Watch for the rice to split and curl, about 45 minutes.  In the meantime prepare the vegetables- grating, dicing, etc…

-In a large skillet sauté in butter, onion, carrots, celery and almonds until onions are translucent.  Then stir in and evenly coat veggies with flour.  Do not let the flour brown.

-Slowly blend the diced chicken and veggies into the pot of broth & rice, stirring constantly.  Let simmer for about10 minutes.

-Add salt & pepper to taste.

-Slowly add the half & half stirring constantly so it doesn’t curdle.

-Reheat the entire mixture, but do not boil again.

-Optional: Garnish with grated cheddar cheese and sliced almonds.