Crockpot Tuesdays

I have had this recipe saved in my Google Reader since the day it popped up, but somehow, it never made its way onto my weekly menu. However, during the Crockpot March Madness tournament, hosted by 365 Days of Slow Cooking, this dish had a pretty good run. It renewed my interest in the meal and made me want to make it ASAP!

Meanwhile, I knew this past weekend was going to be full of relaxing and whatever we wanted to do, so I thought it would be the perfect time to cook/bake something fun. Looking through my Google Reader, I remembered recently starring this recipe for sourdough bread bowls. I’ve never worked with sourdough before, and this recipe seemed like the perfect combination of challenging and yummy! Chicken and wild rice soup served in sourdough bread bowls … what could be better?!

I have to say, this meal was amazing. The soup was fantastic, and the bread bowls turned out so good! I kept comparing the meal to something you would get at Panera, but this tasted so much better! I was very proud of myself and, honestly, I was tooting my own horn for the rest of the night about what a fantastic meal I prepared. My only complaint is that I didn’t discover this recipe earlier. This would be the perfect meal for cold, snowy nights!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
2 chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 box Wild Rice (I used Uncle Ben’s) with seasoning packet
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup flour
1 stick butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of your crockpot. Dump in the carrots, celery, chicken broth, and water. Add the box of rice, including the seasoning packet, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. At end of cook time, shred chicken and return to crockpot.

In a small bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper, mixing well. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Add flour mixture a tablespoon at a time, whisking until the butter and flour is well incorporated. Then, slowly add milk, whisking until everything is smooth. Add this mixture into the soup in the crockpot and stir well. Cook on low for 15 minutes. Enjoy!