Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice soup for the soul

I am going to write a short, recipe blog post while I compose my thoughts for a much longer blog post.

Colorado's winter has been much more like a Minnesota winter than a typical Colorado winter. It's been a lot colder and snowier than previous winters and the snow has been sticking around (it usually melts within a day or two, it's snowed two weeks ago and there is still a bunch of snow around).

Two weeks ago, it snowed a lot and I had a hankering (hehe) to make some Cream of Chicken and wild rice soup, which I have never made it before. It is such a nice, hearty soup to warm your soul.

This is what I walked to work into during the snowstorm and my car after the first 24 hours of the snow (great thing I discovered in Colorado, putting up your windshield wipers up during a snowstorm so they don't freeze to the windshield. 

I based my recipe off this one I found online with a few adjustments (http://www.food.com/recipe/minnesota-cream-of-chicken-wild-rice-soup-134627)

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white dry wine
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup wild rice (very disappointed to find that Colorado's supermarkets didn't have pure wild rice, I had to get a blend...BOO!!) 
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1.5 cups shredded chicken (I boiled mine and hand shredded it)


Directions:
1) Saute onions and celery in a little bit of olive oil.
2) Combine chicken broth, white wine, carrots, celery, onion, wild rice, thyme, and pepper in a large sauce pot.
3) Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer 1 hour to cook wild rice.
4) Melt butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour, followed by the half and half to make a roux.
5) Slowly add roux to the soup mixture, stirring slowly until well combined.
6) Stir in chicken and heat thoroughly.


I like to eat my cream of chicken and wild rice soup with a hunk of crusty white bread.

It keeps really well. I was still eating it a week after I made it. :)