Chicken Soup with Mint and Lemon

(about 6-8 servings)

I hadn't planned on making a chicken soup with mint. I wanted to use parsley, but I inadvertently grabbed a bunch of cilantro while out shopping. But, things have a way of working themselves out. There's fresh mint growing in my garden at the moment and I also had some dried mint on hand. Combined with some fresh lemon juice, they were quite wonderful in this tasty chicken soup.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 medium carrot sliced
3-4 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 1/2 tsp dried mint
2 quarts chicken stock
2 medium tomatoes, diced
reserved meat from the drumsticks or about 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked chicken
freshly squeezed juice from 2 small lemons, or to taste
4-6 sprigs fresh mint, remove the stems and chop
salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a heavy soup pot (over medium-low) and add the garlic. Fry for about 20 seconds or until it becomes fragrant and add the chopped onion. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes until it softens.

Add the carrots and celery to the onion mixture. Reduce the heat to keep the vegetables from burning and cook, stirring once or twice for another 5-8 minutes.

Stir in the rice and mint. Pour in the chicken stock and add the tomatoes. Simmer the soup gently for about 10-12 minutes or until the rice is done.

Slice or shred the chicken into small pieces and add that to the soup as well as the fresh lemon juice. Continue to cook another few minutes until the meat has heated through.

Stir in the fresh mint and add the salt and pepper to taste.

Serve.