Portuguese Chicken Soup

Ingredients
3 bone-in chicken breasts
3 stalks celery
1 large onion
3 crushed garlic cloves
liberal sprinkle of red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
zest from one lemon (from our backyard!)
juice from 2 lemons (again, our yard!)

rice
juice from another lemon

Directions
Cover chicken breasts with about 2 extra inches of water in large pot.  Coarsely chop celery and onion.  Add spices to taste.  Add lemon zest and lemon juice.  Bring to boil and then turn to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove chicken breasts and set aside to cool a bit. Strain broth and discard vegetables.  Return broth to pot and bring to boil.  Add rice (the recipe called for 1/4 cup, which didn't seem like enough to me.  So I threw in a cup, which was too much, but it was what was left in the bag I had in the cupboard.  Luckily, I also had chicken broth in the cupboard, so I just added more broth later and it all worked out fine.  I should have done 1/2 cup)  Simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Remove chicken skin and shred chicken.  Add to broth.  Add juice from another lemon.   Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.  Enjoy!!

I really enjoyed the zing the lemon juice gave the soup, and the soup received a thumbs up from all 5 members of my family.   If I would have had any carrots, I would have added them in as well.  The original recipe called for mint, but I didn't have any.

Emily's Potato Corn Cheddar Chowder

This recipe is a go - to Lent recipe in our house!  Perfect for Fridays in Lent, matched up with Irish Soda Bread!

oil, butter or water for sauteing
1 large onion
red, yellow, and green peppers, chopped (frozen is fine)
1 cube bullion or canned soup stock (optional - use veggie stock to make it a vegetarian meal)
4 to 8 good size potatoes, diced
1 can (or small bag frozen) corn
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk (fat-free, soy, whatever)
1 8 oz package of cubed or shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste
extra milk if you like a thinner chowder

In large soup pot, saute peppers and onions until soft in water or oil. Place potatoes in pot and cover with water one inch higher than potatoes. Add bullion if desired and boil potatoes for about 15 minutes (less for smaller pieces), until potatoes are soft enough to chew but not dissolving, and turn heat down low.

While potatoes are cooking, melt butter/margarine in separate small sauce pan and stir in flour, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth. Add milk and stir until mixture thickens (you're making a white sauce at this point.) Add cheese and stir until melted. Add undrained corn to soup pot (and a bit of water if using frozen corn), and heat through. Add cheese sauce to soup pot and stir thoroughly, adding milk if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with oyster crackers.

Feeds 4 - 5