Creamy Wild Rice Soup

I had mushrooms on the verge of… well, whatever mushrooms do when they take a step toward inedible. (Maybe they grow a fungus?) I had wild rice. I had leftover rotisserie chicken in the freezer.
Time for soup.

This recipe is from Cheap. Fast. Good! by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, also known for their Desperation Dinners newspaper column and cookbook. I added 1 cup cooked chicken and substituted wild rice for the rice blend they call for. Joe said, “I like my soup.” So did I.

I used to turn my nose up at recipes calling for condensed soups as ingredients, but I  got busier and find they can be handy to have in the pantry.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

8 oz. fresh button mushrooms
2 tsp. vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1 large onion (for 1 to 2 cups chopped)
2 tbsp. dry sherry (optional, but it adds a nice flavor)

1 can (about 14 oz.) fat-free chicken broth
1 can (10.75 oz.) regular or reduced-fat condensed cream of mushroom soup
Water

1 box (6.2 oz.) fast-cooking long grain and wild rice blend (or 1/2 cup dry wild rice*, cooked ahead of time and drained)
1 cup or so cooked chicken (optional, I added this)
Black pepper to taste

Rinse, pat dry and slice mushrooms, discarding any tough stems. Set aside.

Heat oil in 4 1/2-quart Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the pot as you chop. Raise the heat to medium-high. Cook for 1 minute, stirring from time to time. Add the mushrooms and sherry (if using). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their liquid, about 3 minutes.

Add the broth, cream of mushroom soup and 2 cups water (adjust amount to match instructions on instant rice box). Add rice and 1 tbsp. of the seasoning from the rice’s seasoning packet. (Reserve the remaining seasoning for another use or discard it.) Stir well, cover the pot, and raise the heat to high. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir well. Cover and cook till rice is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken, if using, to heat. Season with pepper and serve.

Doubles well. I found you can thin leftover soup with a bit of broth if it gets too thick from the rice absorbing liquid.

*Note: If you use wild rice and therefore don’t have the flavor packet that comes with the box of instant, add 1/2 tsp. dried fines herbes, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme and/or whatever else you like. I also added 1/2 tsp. of Herbes in Duxelles, some fancy stuff with powdered mushrooms and spices that someone gave me. I added about 1 cup water instead of 2 since I precooked the wild rice.