Chicken & Rice Soup

Recipe from Double Delicious! by Jessica Seinfeld

• 2 peeled carrots
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 small peeled onion
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 cup short-grain white rice
• 1 quart low-fat, reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 skinless, on the bone chicken breasts
• 1 cup cauliflower puree
• 1/2 cup carrot puree
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp. room-temperature, reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Finely chop the carrots, celery and onion by hand or in a food processor. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables, pepper and paprika. Cook until the vegetables soften but do not brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the rice and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, until the ends of the rice turn translucent.

Add 1 quart water and broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and cover. Turn off the heat and let chicken cook in the hot water until it's no longer pink at the bone, 25 to 30 minutes. Once the chicken has cooked through, remove the meat from the bone, shred it, and return it to the pot.

Stir the purees into the soup. In a small bowl, mash the cornstarch into the cream cheese. Remove 1 cup of the soup and whisk it into the cream cheese mixture until it is smooth and all lumps are gone. Stir the soup and cream-cheese mixture back into the pot and warm through if necessary. Stir in the lemon juice just before serving.