Chicken + Veggie + Rice Soup

A bowl of this, a slice of beer bread — cold weather taste bud nirvana.

4 chicken thighs (I used 2 chicken thighs and some ground sausage I had lying around, so if you have something like that or chicken sausage, feel free to throw it in. You can also do two thighs and a breast, 2 breasts — whatever you have on hand)

1 tbspn paprika

1/2 tspn dried thyme

 1 tspn freshly chopped oregano (or 1/2 tspn dried)

1/2 tspn garlic powder 

salt and pepper to taste 

Olive oil

1 cup mirepoix (celery, carrot, onion in whatever proportion you like)

1/4 cup corn kernels (about 1 ear’s worth)

2 cups (packed) baby spinach

2 bay leaves

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

48 oz. chicken stock

3/4 cup white rice (cooked, if you are not going to eat all of the soup at once)

Mix together the paprika, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Rub in this mixture onto the chicken pieces. Heat up some olive oil in a soup pot. Brown the chicken pieces. Add the mirepoix, corn, garlic, and bay leaves. Sautee until the onions are translucent. Add the spinach and stir so it wilts. Add the chicken broth and rice (if you’re going to eat all the soup in one sitting) and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes (test the rice for doneness). Remove the bay leaves, shred the chicken and bon appetit!