Chicken Soup with Rice Recipe

My daughter turned 5 yesterday and for her birthday dinner she requested Chicken Soup with Rice thanks to a favorite book of hers.  Have you heard of it?

It is a lovely little book about how chicken soup with rice is great all the months of the year and it says things like:

I told you once 

I told you twice

 all seasons

 of the year

 are nice

 for eating

 chicken soup

 with rice!

My daughter has been talking about having Chicken Soup with Rice for her birthday for months now even though I have never actually made this soup before.  Ha!  So how could I refuse?  I found this easy recipe on pottery barn kids of all places.

Chicken Soup with Rice
Ingredients 
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup long-grain white rice
2 halves skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 clove garlic, sliced
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dill, or parsley OR 1 teaspoon minced fresh

Directions
Combine the broth, rice and 2 cups water in saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the chicken to the saucepan and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer the chicken, uncovered, until cooked through about 10-12 minutes. Using tongs, lift the chicken pieces out of the broth and put them on a plate. Set aside to cool. Stir the carrot, celery, peas, garlic, and thyme into the saucepan. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the vegetables are softened and the rice is tender but not mushy, about 10 minutes (15 for me). Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper, and a squeeze or two of lemon juice. Shred the chicken or cut it into bite-sized pieces, and add it back to the simmering soup. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

I doubled the recipe as we were having a family dinner and so it fed 4 adults, 1 big 5 year old and had enough leftovers for lunch today.

The soup was a hit!

Oh and in case you missed it I also made her a Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting.  Fortunately there was enough of that for leftovers today too!