Ok, this one was an imalgomation. Uh, a mixture of all kinds of things I saw on food network. Basically it's chicken and rice soup with a twist. I have the shocked thingy because I couldn't believe I thought of something that actually tasted so good.Here's what you need.
5 cooked chicken breast halves. (At least that is what I think they are) (I found these in the freezer at Sams. They are fully cooked mesquite chicken breasts and they are really tasty, but there are other flavors you can also use.
2 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of something soup
1 can water
one small onion, one belpepper and a handful of mushrooms or maybe two or three.
2 red potatoes
1 pkg lipton onion soup mix
three stalks cellery
seasonings to taste
1 cup minute rice
1. Thaw the chicken in the microwave, just enough so it's completely thawed but not too hot to handle, then cut into pieces and place in a big pot.
2. Chop the onions and belpepper and place in skillit with mushrooms and a little olive oil. Saute until onions are soft and sweet. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Chop up potatoes and cellery and add to pot with chicken..
4. Mix all other ingredients well and let everything simmer until it's done. You can add the sauted veggies at this point so you don't have to do it later, or you can wait until just about ready to serve. I just put them in with everything else. But probably should have waited to preserve more of the sweet flavor of the onions. This soup cooks really quickly and it's delicious. I don't have an exact measurement on the oil because I don't really know how much I used. i just poured it in until everything was coated but the veggies weren't standing in oil either. The sauted mushrooms add a really nice flavor as do the bel pepper and the potatoes. I cut them in long strips. I'm not sure why I did this other than it just seemed like long strips were more appropriate than big chunks as I usually do. You could also add things to it. For instance, carrots or corn or cheese. Wally added cheese to his and loved it. I was going to add carrots and Wally said no way because he didn't want to mess up a good thing with something gross like cooked carrots. Personally I love cooked carrots as long as they aren't drowned in butter and sugar like my mom used to fix them. Gross. My mom puts equal on *everything.* The other day she was over and we ordered pizza and she put equal on her pizza with the mushrooms and sausage and everything else. Well, now I'm going to go actually organize this recipe into something that makes sense, which i guess I should have done in the first place.