Chicken Bacon Wild Rice Soup

My life has been so BUSY lately.  Between my birthday, Thanksgiving, spending time with friends and family, and the end of the trimester at school, I was too busy to post even one recipe in November.  Whatever down time I had in November was clearly not spent blogging.  I did, however, make a lot of delicious food.

Most people prefer to be catered to on their birthdays.  I prefer to cook for other people.  I generally end up having my family over and cooking up some awesome food for them.  Bet you wish you were part of my family! 

I made Chicken Bacon Wild Rice Soup for this year's birthday party, and it was a success.  My brother said it was better than Panera's wild rice soup, and my sister-in-law said she'd like to swim in it.  I think that's a good thing.

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 chopped green onions

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups half-and-half

1-1/2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 tablespoon chopped pimiento

2-3 tablespoons dry sherry, if desired

Directions:

1.  Combine chicken broth and water in a large saucepan.  Add wild rice and onions, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is tender (30-45 minutes).  Do not drain additional broth once rice is cooked.

2.  In a separate saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in flour, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper.  Cook and stir constantly for 1 minute or until smooth and bubbly.

3.  Slowly stir half-and-half into the flour mixture.  Cook and stir until slightly thickened.

4.  Add the half-and-half mixture into the rice and broth.  Add chicken, bacon, pimiento, and sherry.  Heat on low for at least 30 minutes (the more the better!).  Stir occasionally.  Soup will thicken the longer it heats.

Source:  Pinch of Yum