Lemon Chicken Soup

Hi all! It's true, KV got tired of me emailing her recipes. I also tend to like the quick and easy ones better because most days, I only have less then 1/2 hour. As far as cookbooks go, I love Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade (I have her 20-minute meal book). Although she does like to, um, taste-test the cocktails a little too much on her show, her recipes have been big winners so far. The only problem that I've had is that with some of them, the ingredients are really grocery-store dependent because of the short cuts. For example, for one recipe, I was supposed to get a can of Hunt's diced tomatoes with pepper and onion. But they didn't have that, so I had to get the toms with pepper and garlic. Big deal? The world may never know. For the prepackaged stuff, she also offers the brand name that she uses, which is occasionally helpful.

This is one of my favorites, perfect now that it's starting to get chilly and the flu and cold season is starting soon:

Lemon Chicken Soup (4 servings)

3 cans (10.75 oz each) condensed chicken and rice (or chicken noodle) soup, Campbell's (I used the reduced sodium kind...you really won't miss the extra sodium)
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, Swanson
1/3 cup lemon juice, RealLemon
3 large yolks (This one comes straight from the ol' clucker herself)
1 precooked chicken breast, shredded (see above)
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley (optional)

1) In large saucepan, combine soup, broth, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to simmer

2) In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot broth mixture into egg yolks to prevent curdling. Slowly pour into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly. (Alton Brown cal led this "tempering" I think)

3) Stir in chicken and heat through. Stir in parsely. Serve with pita bread, hummus.

So, like I said this is one of my favorites. Couldn't be easier, and the ingredients are fool-proof. Last time, I used chicken and noodle, then added extra egg noodles in step one to make the soup hardier. When you have a cold, the lemon clears sinuses, and the creamy yolk and salty broth soothe sore throats. Hmm...almost makes me want to get a cold just so I can have some to feel better...

Another variation includes substituting condensed cream of chicken soup for the yolks and the broth with 6 3/4 cups water to make it even creamier.

Cheers!