Chicken & Orzo Soup with Arugula and Basil

Though it isn't quite soup weather in OKC yet, the rainy weather made it the perfect day for Chicken & Orzo Soup with Arugula and Basil. This is a recipe I found in Every Day with Rachael Ray last October and it is one of my favorites and I knew Mark would like it, too. And I was right..he gave it big thumbs up.



Orzo is one of my favorite pastas and it is perfect in this soup. The arugula can be hard to find so spinach is a good substitute. Tonight, I used a combination of baby spinach and mustard greens and it was very tasty. I love carrots so I added a little extra carrot and used baby portobello mushroom caps. I also threw in an extra bay leaf. And since we love basil, there may have been a little extra of that, too. Rachael Ray's recipes lend themselves to interpretation and I like that. Sometimes her recipes aren't the healthiest, though, but this one definitely is--lots of great veggies, chicken and herbs. It is fairly quick but there is some chopping. Not my favorite, so lucky for me Mark is a good chopper.

This is a very hearty dish so for those of you who are hungry 30 minutes after you eat a bowl of soup, this one is for you.