Chicken, Sausage, and Rice Soup

I am finally home after two weeks away on business; apologies for my longest lull yet in posting.  Boy was I ready for home-made food, after many nights eating out of the microwave in a hotel.  But I also wanted something quick, since it's been a long day of travel.

Whether you want a quick meal for the same reason, or just any night after a long day, try this quick soup, easily made vegan with Tofurky sausage and Gardein chicken.  Use Gardein's chick'n filets, sold refrigerated, which are thinner than the company's chicken breasts.

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-ounce) Tofurky Italian sausage 
• 2 Gardein chick'n filets
• Cooking spray
• 1 and 1/2 cups frozen chopped onion
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1/3 cup chopped carrot
• 28 ounces vegan chicken broth (prepared from Not Chick'n bouillon)
• 1 (3.5-ounce) bag boil-in-bag brown rice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Break the sausage apart into crumbles and cut the chicken into 1/2-inch pieces.  Cook in a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over high heat for 2 minutes.  Add the onion and thyme; cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

2. Add the celery, carrots, and broth; bring to a boil.  Remove the rice from the bag, and add to the broth mixture.  Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 minutes.  Discard the thyme sprigs; stir in the parsley, salt, and black pepper.

Add warm bread or hearty crackers on the side to round out the meal, and you're good to go.

Ingredients:
4 servings (1 and 1/2 cups), Calories 245 

Tasting Notes:
A flavorful soup, especially from the thyme which infused into the broth.  I loved the spicy hints from the sausage.  For something that came together so quickly, this tasted like a long-simmered soup that had been on the stove for hours.  Definitely my new go-to "un-chicken" soup, as they say.  I highly recommend a hearty loaf of bread on the side, both for dunking in the soup as you eat and for sopping up the last bits of broth from the bowl.

Rating:
3.5