Lemon Rice Soup

This is a great summer dish and a good way to use lemons if you have a tree. My friend Janice and I went to YassoYani's, a local Greek Restaurant in Stockton, and loved this traditional soup. I fell in love with the fresh flavor of the lemon and the creamy texture of the soup. It was refreshing, yet filling at the same time. So of course, I had to find a way to recreate it and make it better. So with the help of an online recipe I found to start us off and some fresh ingredients from Janis's garden this is what we created....delish!!

This recipe will make 3 bowls, so I suggest doubling it so there is more!

Ingredients:
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup cooked rice
garlic powder to taste
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp or more fresh thyme leaves (strip the leaves off the stems)
3-4 leaves fresh basil (cut them into strips)
lemon zest
Optional: shredded chicken

Directions:
1. In a saucepan, heat up the chicken soup and milk over medium heat until it boils. Whisk the soup while its heating to prevent burning.
2. Once heated through, add the rice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, thyme and basil, saving just a bit of the herbs to top the soup. Then add the lemon juice, a bit at a time first then stir and taste. Add more lemon juice if you want a stronger lemon taste. Let it continue to heat through and simmer for at least 5 minutes to let the flavors blend. If you chose to add chicken, stir it in before you are ready to serve the soup.
3. To finish it off, ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle the lemon zest and remainder of the herbs on top. Serve warm and enjoy!