Chicken and Bacon Wild Rice Soup

What's better on a cold winter night than a steaming bowl of soup? I found the link to this most delicious recipe on Pinterest and made it for my family last night. It was quite simple yet very tasty. Kevin declared that he could eat it once a week and the boys didn't complain (which is a compliment in and of itself).

Chicken & Bacon Wild Rice Soup

Source: http://pinchofyum.com/chicken-bacon-wild-rice-soup

Ingredients:

3 (10 3/4 oz) cans condensed chicken broth

2 cups water

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

1/2 cup margarine or butter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups half and half

1 1/2 cup cubed or shredded cooked chicken or turkey

8 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

1 tablespoon chopped pimiento

2-3 tablespoons dry sherry, if desired

Instructions

In a large saucepan, combine chicken broth and water. Add wild rice and onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30-45 minutes (or until rice is tender).

Once the rice is cooked, there will be some additional broth – do not drain.

In a medium saucepan, melt margarine, stir in flour, salt, seasoning, and pepper. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.Gradually stir in half and half with the butter/flour mixture and cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add this creamy mixture back into the saucepan with the rice/broth. Add remaining ingredients (chicken, bacon, pimiento, and sherry). Heat on low, stirring every once in a while, for at least a half an hour. Do not boil.

The mixture will look thin, but the longer you heat the soup, the more the flavors merry and the more it will thicken. This soup is best served after gently heating for an extended period of time (even a few hours) or the next day!

For extra flavor, add more poultry seasoning and/or bacon.

I followed these directions exactly, although I did omit the sherry, and it turned out quite good. To cook the chicken I boiled it and then cut it into cubes. Boiling chicken breasts is my default method when they are going to be put into a dish and presentation is unimportant. For the bacon, I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and baked it at 375 for 20 minutes. Baking bacon, as I have recently discovered, is so much easier than frying it!