Vegan Chicken & Rice Soup

The coziest time of year showed up last week and I welcomed it the only way I knew how...tasty soup. Sure, I'm probably ahead of myself with the flannel slippers and hot chocolate but you really can't argue with some homemade Chikn Soup!

I came up with this little gem on the spot. Actually, I'm incredibly proud of this soup because it's the first recipe I entirely made up!



Ingredients:
-1 package Gardein brand Seasoned Bites
-3/4 cup long grain white rice
-1 bouillon cube
-1.5 cups water
-6 cups broth (no-chikn or veggie)
-2 roma tomatoes
-1 white onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, chopped
-a few tablespoons olive oil
-salt, pepper and parsley

Set up on your stove one large soup, a medium pan, and a medium pot. Rinse then pour the rice into a medium pot and add the 1.5 cups water with a bouillon cube. Bring the rice to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Occasionally stir the rice until cooked and fluffy then remove from heat.

After you've started the rice, start the chikn. Add a tablespoon oil to a medium pan and heat at medium-low until the oil becomes glossy and hot. Then add the package of Gardein chikn pieces including all of the delicious sauce. Cover and continue to cook on medium-low until the most of the sauce cooks off and absorbs. Use your spoon to cut the chikn into smaller, mouth size pieces.

Once the rice and chikn are close to finished, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil into the large soup pot. Heat on medium-low until the oil is glossy and hot. Then add the chopped onion and garlic. Cook until the onions become clear, about 5 minutes. Add the 6 cups of broth as well as the rice, chikn, and tomato. Add salt, pepper and parsley according to taste (I believe I used about 1 teaspoon each). Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, spoon into bowls and enjoy!!