It seems as though we’ve entered flu season. I actually haven’t been sick yet, but I’ve seen several co-workers, a few family members, and lots of blog-friends succumb in the past week or two. I just want to send everyone a big bowl of chicken soup, but that seems unfeasible, given, you know, the logistics of shipping chicken soup around the country, so I made this lovely, thick, Greek-inspired bowl of avgolemono with chicken to inspire health in all of you (and I’m also hoping that eating it myself will help stave off illness a while longer). In particular, Grandma Joyce – I hope you’re feeling much much better!
This is another recipe that’s inspired by Maria‘s Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. I really love this cookbook, but I’m always tinkering with the recipes, which sometimes gives me cooking guilt, as I know it’s not a fair test of the recipe (and that a lot of work goes into recipe-testing for cookbooks to get them just right)! I set out to make this one exactly as written, but realized as I started cooking that I didn’t have any scallions, and that I didn’t have any par-boiled rice on hand, and that I really needed to use up the chickpeas that have been sitting in my fridge. So I sighed, and adjusted here and tweaked there, and made it my own. I promise, I’ll make the next recipe from Maria’s book the way it says to!
As you might have guessed, this is another one for my winter cleanse. It’s great cleanse food – the avgolemono, a Greek technique that involves adding an egg and lemon mixture to thicken hot broth, makes it thicker and more substantial than your average soup, without adding a lot of extra calories. With chicken, chickpeas, and brown rice, it’s filling and warming and lovely. Give it a try… and feel better to all of you who are under the weather!
Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpeas
Inspired by Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. Serves 2.
- 4 c. chicken broth
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, fat trimmed (about 8 oz.)
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed or finely minced
- 1/4 c. brown rice
- 1/2 c. cooked chickpeas
- 1 egg, separated, at room temperature
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
- 1/4 c. chopped dill
- salt and pepper to taste
- Add the chicken broth, chicken, minced/crushed garlic, and brown rice to a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 35-45 minutes, or until both the rice and the chicken are fully cooked – the rice should be tender and the chicken should be cooked through, with no pink in the middle when you cut into it.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, tear into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
- Beat the egg white with a whisk in a medium bowl until it is white and thick. Lightly beat the egg yolk, then add the egg yolk to the beaten egg white and whisk together. Slowly pour the lemon juice into the egg mixture as you whisk. The mixture should be pale yellow and fairly thick. Slowly add a thin stream of the hot broth-rice mixture to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so, to temper the eggs. Use about half of the broth mixture in doing this. Pour the tempered egg-lemon mixture back into the pan, whisking the soup as you do so. Continue to stir, and add the chicken pieces, chickpeas, and dill to the pot. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring, to heat all ingredients through and slightly thicken the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve hot.
Hi Katie, Thanks for stopping by my blog thought I would check yours out. I have to say I love your work.
This soup sounds delicious, and what beautiful pictures! I think I’m going to have to get my hands on that cookbook as well…
Katie, this soup looks delicious. I’m a fan of Maria’s book too and now hungry! I’m glad you stopped by my blog and I found yours – really beautiful! Cheers to you and good luck with your with your menu plan this week.
Gorgeous soup!
So pretty! I love your photos. And with the soup, you had me at “egg.”
Yes, don’t eggs in soup give them such a lovely richness? Thanks for stopping by!
Making this today, hope it helps me get over my cold!
I hope so too!
Avgolemono soup is probably my all-time favorite soup! I love the addition of the chickpeas and the use of brown rice!
This is my favorite recipe ever. Since I can’t get a hold of dill, I use cilantro instead and it ends up tasting like the missing link between the avgolemono and the changua. Thank you so much Katie, I owe you.
I’m so glad you like it! Your comment has reminded me that it’s been too long since I’ve made this…
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to comment on how much I liked it. My husband has a crappy summer cold, I’m bummed that said cold will make me miss the Greek festival this weekend … and this recipe made both a little better! I did what you did and tweaked the recipe – I had no chickpeas, but I did have some white beans in the fridge, and since I don’t love dill I subbed in some fresh oregano and basil. It was DELICIOUS! Thanks for sharing this!
I found out about your blog because of the photograph of this soup that was blogged in Tumblr. It looked so good that I had to make it. I’ve made it many times since and it is possibly still the best soup I’ve ever had.
I made a version of this the other night, but I forgot the egg. Darnit! Either way, I’ll definitely be making it again (with the egg), though I made some tweaks. I added chopped zucchini and small tomatoes (grape, cherry or tasting tomatoes will do). 2 days later, my family is STILL eating it. I love it, even though I didn’t have access to fresh dill at the time. I made it in my electric pressure cooker (copycat Instant Pot). I did find that the rice absorbs the juices so you have to keep adding dill, lemon and broth if you have leftovers. I made a lot. I found it on Yummly! This will be one of my go-to recipes. Thank you so much!
Love this soup! I’ve made it so many times . Discovered the Greek canned chickpeas at Trader joes and they are the perfect Subsitute for regular!