Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup

Make this delicious lemony chicken orzo soup with dehydrated vegetables - it's a family favorite!

If you prefer, you can use the zest of fresh lemons or use a dash of lemon from your dehydrated lemon stock! And yes, sin of all sins, I WAS sitting in front of the computer eating it ... and NOT at the dining table!

But no matter where you eat this fantastic chicken soup, it's always refreshing and delicious, and it's that touch of lemon that elevates it from ordinary chicken soup, to extraordinary lemon chicken soup!

If you're in the mood for fresh bread, check out this bread recipe. The results even made me look like a professional baker! LOL

Substitute White Rice For Orzo

NOTE: If you're out of orzo, you can very easily substitute white rice for the orzo, though the rice will need about 5 to 10 minutes more to cook through. I like orzo, though, because of the way the it plumps up so big!

Ingredients for Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup:

1 slice dehydrated elephant garlic
1 tablespoon dehydrated onion
1 tablespoon dehydrated carrots, crumbled into small pieces
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup orzo
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 lb. pre-cooked dehydrated chicken or leftover chicken from last night's dinner! You can use canned chicken in water too - works great!
Italian (dried) herbs to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
handful fresh chopped parsley
salt* and pepper to taste
lemon juice, or dehydrated lemon, or lemon zest

How to Make Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup:

1. Use clean cold water or freshly boiled water to re-hydrate the dehydrated items above.
2. When they are sufficiently plump, add the olive oil to a heavy pan on medium heat.
3. Add the onion and carrots, cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the chicken stock, then add the garlic – crumbled finely, and the remaining ingredients – bring to a boil and cook an additional eight minutes.
5. At the end of cooking, add a good squirt of lemon juice (I choose to use ReaLemon brand). We just need to detect a taste of lemon in the soup, and not overwhelm it with lemon!

*IF you need to add salt, do so, BUT be careful NOT to over-salt as the bouillon has salt in it.