Imagine the comfort food you went to every time when you were a child.  The one your mom would make when you were sick or having a bad day.  We all have one.  Many of us have adopted the recipe we loved as a child and continue to make it when we need a pick-me-up.  To my mom it was spaghetti, to me it was my mom’s chicken, vegetable, and rice soup.  I have altered the recipe a tiny bit to make it even easier to make (who wants to cook when they are sick?) but it still tastes the same.  My husband and I now make it often, either when I am craving some nostalgia or when we want a light, healthy, detoxing meal.  Oh, and did I mention it is ridiculously easy to make and the fastest soup recipe around?  And to top it off it is gluten and dairy free!

Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie chicken de-boned, de-skinned and meat shredded (or about 5 cups of your favorite cooked chicken)
•  1 large bag of frozen veggies (I go for the bag of mixed peas, corn, green beans, lima beans and carrots, but really any mix of veggies frozen or fresh will work)
•  1 onion cut into bite sized pieces
•  1 can chicken broth (check labels if you want it GF)
•  1 entire bottle of your favorite Italian Dressing (check labels if you want it GF and/or DF)
•  3 cups uncooked white Minute Rice
• Optional toppers: Shredded cheese, soup crackers

   Directions:

1.  Add everything besides the rice into a large stock pot.
2.  Add water to the pot until all ingredients are covered by a few inches.
3.  Place pot on the stove top and cook until soup is boiling.
4.  Add the uncooked rice, cover, and remove from heat.
5.  Wait about 10 minutes for rice to cook.
6.  Ladle soup into bowls.  Generally the soup is pretty thick (and will thicken even more while it cools) so we generally fill our bowl up 3/4 with soup and then top it with some water.  Add more or less water for your preferred soup experience!
7.  If you want, top with shredded cheese and/or soup crackers.
8.  Refrigerate the rest for leftovers!  The recipe above will feed us generally 8 servings, or 4 nights the two of us.  Also freezes incredibly well!