Friday: Chicken Vegetable Soup with Brown Rice

As we draw to the end of the week, I feel like I've been doing pretty good on my grocery haul. Thanks to some scary flu symptoms I downed several gallons of chicken bone broth yesterday (seasoned with ginger and lemon) and I feel infinitely better. I still have three eggs, two lemons, some ginger, some olives, a handful of salad greens, half a head of broccoli, one carrot, four stalks of celery, one tupper of cooked chicken, half a jar of chicken juice, and one unopened carton of blueberries in the fridge. The goal is to "spend down" all the perishables every week, so we're doing ok. But after today, I think we'll be in better shape, because I'm making SOUP.

When I was growing up my grandma always used to collect any uneaten salad from family gatherings and take it home to make a soup. The thought terrified us kids. While I don't hope to go quite that far, I like to think this soup draws some inspiration from her thriftiness.

Leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 carrot, chopped finely
2 stalks celery, chopped finely
1 tupperware of precooked chicken meat
2-3 cups chicken juice from roasted chicken (note: salty!)
1/3 cup frozen corn
1 head broccoli, chopped
Handful of salad greens and parsley
Bay leaf
Peppercorns
1/2 cup brown rice

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, bring chicken juice, 6-8 cups water, carrot, celery, chicken, frozen corn and brown rice to a boil. Add bay leaf and peppercorns, reduce heat to a simmer.
2. Throw in chopped broccoli, salad greens, and parsley. Cover and set timer to 20 min. After 20 min, remove cover and simmer for another 10-15 min or until rice is done.
3. Serve, with croutons if that's your thing, and eat.

Optional: drop an egg into the bowl before serving; add more salt & pepper & parmesan to taste.

FACTS AND FIGURES 

Prep time: <10 min. 

Servings: 4-6
Agony rating: 3/10. Cooking needs watching/multiple steps.
Taste and stuff: It's a little bland, but light, and surprisingly filling.

*COSTS OF STUFF I HAD TO BUY SPECIAL*

Again, it's hard to parse out the cost of the ingredients since these were all remnants from other recipes this week, but it's mostly about the cost of the chicken. $10? $12? $15? I have no idea. 

Now, what to do with the leftover blueberries and ginger? (Edit: solution found.)