Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup

This lemon and chicken flavored soup is full of veggies and orzo, a small pasta. The recipe was adapted slightly from one of Ellie Krieger's recipes in The Food You Crave. It's thick thanks to a mixture of tempered eggs and lemon juice. Give it a try, it's great for cold, winter nights!

Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup

4 tsp. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts diced, 4 oz. each, seasoned with garlic and herbs (If you can't find them preseasoned, you may just salt and pepper them and season them with garlic powder, parsley, oregano or italian seasoning)
1 tsp salt
1 medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
6 cups chicken broth (+/- 1/2 c.)
2 tsp chicken soup base (I used "better than bouillian chicken soup base)
1 cup orzo pasta (or you can use ditalini, any small pasta will work!)
2 jumbo eggs (or large)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat half the oil in a medium pot (I used a 5 qt. dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and add it, cooking for about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the pot. Add onion, celery, & carrot, stirring over med-high heat until veggies are tender, approximately 5 min. Add 5 c. out of the 6 c. of chicken broth & chicken soup base, bring mixture to a boil, add orzo and simmer until tender for about 8 min. Turn heat down to low to keep the soup hot (do NOT boil it at this point...you will need to temper the eggs and you don't want to scramble them!).

With the last 1 c. of broth, place in a small pot and heat but do not boil. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and add lemon juice. While whisking continuously, slowly add chicken broth (about 1/4 c. at a time) until all of the chicken stock has been incorporated into the egg mixture. Add to soup, stirring until thickened. Do not boil--simmer on low. Add cooked chicken, extra broth if necessary (mine was a little thick and I did thin it with some broth after the picture was taken), & season with salt and pepper.  Serve while hot, makes four 1 1/2 cup servings!

Nutritional info: 280 cal, 10 g fat, 26 g protein, 2 g fiber, 22 g carbs. 7 PointsPlus/serving.