No (more) soup for you

Hot soup on a cold day is nourishing, warming and tasty. So much so I may just have had a bit too much of it.

I blame Facebook.

A current fad, at least in my timeline, is for people to repost videos of recipes. Disembodied hands measure, pour and cook the different dishes, until the final shot of a foodblog styled, perfectly cooked entree.

One of the recent posts featured a crock pot chicken with wild rice soup. I adore my own version of that soup, but I'm willing to branch out and try something different.

After tracking down the actual recipe (I hate videos with a passion - give me printed words on a page and I can do anything.), I gathered up the ingredients to load down the crock this afternoon.

While you still need to make the bechamel on the stove, adding it to the crock near the end of the cooking time, the overall process is pretty easy. The end result? Pretty tasty, without the sticky sweetness the evaporated milk gives to my own version.

The caveat? This filled my almost 6 quart crock pot to the brim. After filling my covered soup mug for lunch tomorrow (20 ounces), filling a covered coringware 2 quart bowl for eating the rest of the week and eating two big mugsful for dinner, I've still frozen four, two cup containers.

Bring on the cold weather.

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup - crock pot

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut pieces in half if large)
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
4 -5 cloves minced garlic
1 -2 bay leaves
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 T Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt

Bechamel:
5 T butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk (whole works best, but you can use even skim if you are patient)

Rinse the rice under running water. In a 5 1/2 quart slow cooker, place the rices, carrots, onion, celery. garlic, bay leaves, chicken broth, water, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and chicken in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 - 8 hours.

Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, remove the chicken and allow it to cool slightly. Shred and return to the cooker.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour, stirring to combine and cooking for at least a full minute. slowly add the milk while whisking to remove lumps. Continue to stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens and becomes creamy.

Add the thickened bechamel to the crock and stir well. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning as needed. Let stand five minutes before serving (soup will thicken as it stands).