Ingredients

The following ingredients have 7 Servings
  • 1 left-over roasted chicken with at least 1-2 cups meat left on it. ( Or sub 8-12 ounces chicken breast and 8 cups chicken stock -see notes)
  • 10 cups water
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 2 tsp salt, more to taste
  • ——-
  • 1  extra large onion or leek, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tsp toasted coriander seeds ( or ground is fine)
  • ¼-½ cup fresh lemon juice ( from 2 lemons) and zest from 1-2 lemons (1 tablespoon) Meyer lemons are nice.
  • 1 cup dry orzo  ( If you want thicker soup you could add 1/2 – 1 cup more orzo. Basically, if you are serving all the soup right away, use more orzo. If you are saving some soup for the next day, the orzo will quadruple in size leaving you with no broth. Up to you.)
  • ¼ cup chopped dill, more for garnish
  • Garnish: Dollop Sour Cream (optional) and sprig of dill

Instruction

  • Pour 10 cups water over chicken carcass w/ 2 bay leaves and 2 tsp salt and simmer covered for 1 hour. (You could do this ahead and store in the fridge over night.) See notes if  using chicken breasts and stock.
  • Strain over a large bowl, reserving stock and meat. Let cool. With your fingers, separate meat from the bones, discarding the bones, and breaking up the meat into smaller bite size pieces. You should have 1-2 cups of chicken meat left. With your fingers, double and triple check for small bones.
  • In a heavy bottom pot, sauté onion in oil, over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, celery and carrots. Once celery is tender add in the chicken stock and the chicken meat. Toast your Coriander seeds and crush them and add them to the soup along with lemon zest. Bring to a simmer.
  • Add Orzo and let simmer uncovered stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes. At this point soup will still seem pretty brothy, but it will thicken up. Once the orzo is cooked through, add a 1/4 C chopped fresh dill and juice from one lemon. Taste and add more salt and lemon to taste.  You want to taste the lemon! Serve in a bowls with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of fresh dill.
  • Enjoy!