Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Hominy
We love the combination of wild rice and hominy in this simple soup. Brown rice or any leftover cooked grain would work well, too. We use a few tricks to get maximum comforting flavor into the soup, starting by enriching the chicken broth with a roast chicken carcass and by adding chopped cilantro and scallion at the very end for freshness.
- Level: Easy
- Total: 1 hr 10 min
- Active: 1 hr 10 min
- Yield: 8 cups (4 servings)
Ingredients
1/2 cup wild rice
Carcass and bones from one 4- to 5-pound roast chicken (or a mild-flavored rotisserie chicken)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 medium onion, chopped
Kosher salt
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
3 scallions
One 15-ounce can hominy, drained
Lime wedges for serving
1 bay leaf
Directions
- Cook the rice according to package directions; set aside to cool.
- Put the chicken carcass and bones in a large pot (they can be in pieces). Cover with the broth and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim any foam or fat from the top of the broth with a ladle as necessary.
- Remove the bones and carcass with tongs or a slotted spoon; set aside to cool. Add the carrots, celery, onion and bay leaf to the broth. Bring back to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are about half cooked (they will still offer a little resistance when poked with a knife), about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, when the carcass and bones are cool enough to handle, pick off any meat and shred it into bite-size pieces. Roughly chop the cilantro and scallions together.
- Add the shredded chicken, cooked rice, hominy and cilantro-scallion mixture to the broth and simmer until warmed through, about 1 minute. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste. Serve hot with lime wedges.
