Chicken & Rice Soup with Garlicky Chile Oil

Enough sweet treats! Now I am going to start sharing several comfort food dishes.

I could eat soup every night in cold weather. The starches released by cooking the rice in the stock thickened the base of this dish. The resulting soup tasted hearty and rich.

This recipe was adapted from Bon Appétit, contributed by Kat Boytsova. I modified the proportions, replaced most of the water with stock, and used olive oil, Italian carnaroli rice, and added parmesan rind.

The garlicky chile oil topping, which I doubled (it was recommended to have leftovers!), made this wonderful soup extra special. We ate it with a sourdough baguette and green salad.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• 1 medium to large yellow onion
• 6 garlic cloves (I used 12 cloves to double the oil)
• 2/3 cup white rice, preferably short grain such as Arborio or medium grain such as Carnaroli
• 6 T olive oil or vegetable oil (I used 10 T to double the oil)
• 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used 1 tsp in my double batch)
• 6 cups poultry stock (I used 4 cups homemade turkey stock & 2 cups chicken stock)
• 2 cups water
• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 3 tsp kosher salt, divided
• parmesan rind, optional
• 1 large bunch Tuscan kale (I used 10oz bag of chopped Tuscan kale)
• freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
• dill sprigs, for garnish
• freshly ground black pepper

1. To Prep Ingredients: Peel and finely chop 1 onion. Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Rinse rice in a fine-mesh sieve until water runs clear.
2. To Make the Garlic-Chile Oil: (I made a double batch.) Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add garlic and cook, swirling pan often, until golden brown, 3–5 minutes; the garlic will continue to cook and darken slightly after it’s off the heat, so be conservative here. Transfer to a small heatproof bowl, leaving 1 T garlic oil in pot. Stir the crushed red pepper flakes into garlic oil in bowl; set aside.
3. To Make the Soup: Add the chopped onion to the 1 T of garlic oil that remains in the in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent and beginning to take on some color, about 5 minutes.
4. Pour in stock and water and stir to combine.
5. Stir in rice, chicken thighs, 1 tsp salt, and parmesan rind, if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 to 20 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
6. Using tongs, transfer chicken to a plate and let sit until cool enough to handle. Shred meat with two forks. Continue to simmer soup while you’re prepping the rest of your ingredients (this will concentrate the flavor of the broth).
7. Strip kale leaves off of thick center ribs, discarding ribs. Rinse kale thoroughly in cold water, shake off excess water, then thinly slice leaves crosswise.
8. Add kale and shredded chicken to pot. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until kale is bright green and chicken is warmed through, about 4 minutes.
9. Remove pot from heat. Squeeze in lemon juice (being careful not to let any seeds fall in), season with 1 to 2 tsp salt, or more to taste, and stir to combine.
10. Divide soup among bowls. Drizzle with reserved garlic-chile oil. Garnish with dill sprigs and a few grinds of black pepper.