Life Lately . . . and Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Happy Spring, friends!

I hear someone saying, "Where is she? She promised to tell us about last year's completed home projects, but she seems to have disappeared!"

Well, friends, I am still here. Life is full! Somehow, I am busier now than when I was homeschooling my children. I never would have guessed! 

Since I last posted here on my blog . . . 

🍋 I have been busy with my mom.
Her life is quite different these days, and I am doing what I can to help. 

🍋 I have been hosting. 
I have hosted a weekly ladies' Bible study, a "Soup & Hymns" gathering with our church music team and their families, and a group of friends for lunch. Hosting is my happy place and I was not able to have people over for nearly a year. I guess I am making up for lost time. 

🍋 Bekah and I went on a weekend retreat with some ladies from our church.

🍋 We have been painting and painting and painting. 
This project is one of our house goals for 2024. I haven't told you about it yet because I'm still talking about last year's projects. Good grief. 

I do plan to finish up that last post about 2023's completed house projects . . . but that post is not yet ready. 

In the meantime, I'd like to share a recipe that I have served to two of the groups that we have hosted. This soup is light and fresh and tastes of spring to me. 

LEMON CHICKEN ORZO SOUP
original recipe 

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 small onion, diced
1 whole boneless chicken breast
1 cup roughly chopped spinach
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
3/4 cup orzo pasta
salt
pepper
8 cups chicken broth
2 lemons

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rub chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place on baking sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes.
Remove, loosely cover with foil and let rest.

Turn up heat to 400 degrees.
Slice a lemon and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Roast lemon slices for 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add carrot, celery, and onion and sauté for 6-8 minutes.
Add broth, spinach, thyme, and orzo. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to boil, cover partially with lid, and reduce heat.
Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Shred chicken and add to soup.
Add the zest and juice of one lemon.

Stir and serve. Top with roasted lemon slices. 

NOTES:

• The original recipe called for bone-in chicken breasts, but we had boneless so that's what we used and it was fine.
• When I made this soup, I doubled the recipe. (The first time, I had a large group. The second time, I wanted leftover soup for dinner.)  I doubled everything except the lemon zest and juice because I didn't want the lemon to be overpowering. It wasn't, but you could certainly increase it if you prefer a bolder lemon flavor. 
  
• One of my lunch guests cannot eat gluten, so I used gluten-free orzo that I purchased on Amazon. I couldn't tell the difference. 

Yum! This soup is so good on a cool, spring day. I think this will become a springtime classic around here! 

Do you have any springtime classics? I'd love to know!