Tomato Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken drumsticks skin on

1 half of large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 large tomato, peeled & chopped

1/2 cup of good tomato sauce

2 tablespoons of tomato paste concentrate

1 tablespoon of paprika

2 tablespoons of Osem Consomme (green cap)

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3/4 cup of rice

7-8 cups of water

2 sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)

Squeeze of lemon juice (optional but delicious)

Salt & black pepper to taste

In a cast iron pot heat up the olive oil on a medium heat. Add in the chicken and brown for a few minutes on each side. This step is just to create more flavor in the soup not to cook the chicken. Once the chicken is brown, just remove it and set it to the side.

Add in the garlic and onion and cook that until it is translucent.

Then add in the cumin, paprika, and consomme. I like to heat up my spices for a minute or two to release more flavor.

Add in the tomato paste concentrate, tomato sauce, and chopped tomatoes. Let this simmer for 10 minutes.

Then add in the chicken and the water. Let this simmer on a medium to low heat for 35 minutes.

Add in the rice, place thyme sprigs on top (if you're using), cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes, until the rice is puffed up and tender. After the rice is done cooking I remove the thyme and toss it.

Right before I serve the soup, I just squeeze a little lemon juice over the top. This step is optional but it does give the soup a really fresh and clean taste, its so good!

*I like to remove the chicken from the soup, let it cool, and then shred it and then add it back into the soup. I just throw the meat back into the soup. I toss the bones and skin.

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