Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Minute® Rice. The recipe and all opinions are my own. 
For the last 2 1/2 weeks, I have had this cold that I just cannot kick. It started with mostly a bad cough but now has turned into sinus congestion, headaches, etc. I wanted a soup that would warm me up, be full of nutrients and taste delicious. This soup turned out awesome and I am thankful to have a big pot of this on hand for the work week. When I eat a bowl of this soup, it helps reduce some of my cold symptoms temporarily which I love.


This recipe could also be served for any holiday party. I love the variety of colors in the soup. For this recipe, I used Minute® Rice. I chose their brown rice since I prefer whole grains to refined ones. This rice cooked super fast in the microwave and was the perfect texture that I needed for my soup. I like that this soup can be made ahead of time and served later which is great if you are short on time. This rice has the same nutritional value as whole grain brown rice but takes 1/4 of the amount of time to cook.


Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
6 servings of Minute® Rice brown rice
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup wax beans, chopped
1 large bunch red Swiss chard, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 large lemon, juiced
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Directions: 
1. Heat olive oil in a pan and cook chicken until thoroughly cooked.
2. Meanwhile, cook rice according to directions (cut off about 3 minutes from what directions say until rice is almost soft).
3. In a large soup pot, add zucchini, carrots, swiss chard, wax beans and green pepper. Add about 2 cups of water and cook over medium heat until vegetables are softened.
4. Dice chicken breast into bite sized pieces.
5. Add chicken broth to pot of vegetables along with garbanzo beans, rice, chicken, lemon juice and spices.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes longer until flavored are blended.
Enjoy!
If you or a loved one gets sick this holiday season, help them feel better with a big pot of whole-grain, veggie filled soup!


This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.