Tomato Based Low Sodium Chicken and Rice Soup


Ingredients:

• Approx. 5lb chicken (no brining or sodium solution)
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest from lemon
• 1 large onion
• 10 medium carrots
• 2 yellow summer squash
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 medium or 1 large stalk of celery (it's naturally high in sodium so I don't use too much)
• 1 packet sodium free chicken bouillon
• 1 cup NSA (no salt added) frozen corn
• 2 cups of pureed tomatoes - I use whole canned plum tomatoes NSA from Trader Joe's but you can use Pomi brand NSA or any canned tomato with no salt from your local grocer. You can use fresh tomatoes if needed. 
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup loose packed fresh parsley (before you chop it)
• 1 cup jasmine white rice (not parboiled or minute rice)

Instructions:

Please refer to video first but here are the instructions.

1. Place ~5 lb. chicken in 8 qt. stock pot. fill with water till chicken is almost covered. No more than 1 inch from the top of the pot. Place on low/medium heat for 1 1/4 hr with 3 bay leaves in the water. You can leave the chicken in longer on low heat but avoid a rapid boil as this will make the meat tough. Also add any vegetable trimmings as you go such as carrot, onion and celery ends.
2. Rinse and cook one cup of dry white jasmine rice according to instructions on the bag in covered pan or rice cooker.  Use less water for a firmer rice as the rice will soften in the soup.  I use 1 cup of rice to 1 1/4 water.  Zest one teaspoon of lemon zest from rind of lemon and add to rice.
3. Chop all fresh vegetables and parsley (see video for chopping instructions) and deposit any remnants such as carrot ends into the simmering stock pot.  This will add even more flavor to the broth and waist nothing.
4. Once chicken has finished cooking carefully remove it from the pot and place in the fridge to cool for at least 20-30 minutes. Remove any bay leaves and vegetable pieces. Personally I have another large part and I transfer the broth through a sieve or strainer then pour the strained broth back into the original stock pot.
5. Add sodium free bouillon packet. Add all vegetables and parsley to broth. Pour in 1 cup of frozen corn and 2 cups of pureed tomatoes. Add juice of one lemon. I cut the lemon in half and hand squeeze them over a sieve to catch any seeds and usually let half a lemon sit in the broth for 2-5 minutes. Make sure you remove this lemon as it will leave an unpleasant taste if you leave it for too long. Cover lid and cook on low/medium heat for 30 minutes.
6. Clean chicken so that you have all the white/dark meat in a bowl broken into bite size pieces. Add chicken and rice to pot. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste, I use 2 teaspoons, and stir and cover and let simmer for 20 minutes but like most things this soup tastes better after sitting in the pot for a couple hours (no heat).
7. Serve with low sodium toast and a wedge of lemon.
8. Enjoy!