Lemon Chicken Soup

Once upon a time I worked near a Greek restaurant. It served the best lemon soup ever. This easy recipe reminds me of that soup (although I'm not sure anything will ever come close to the original). I adapted this from a recipe I found and is great as a quick meal. I've used fresh chicken and let it cook in the broth. It's also easy to use leftover cooked chicken or from a rotisserie chicken.

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup orzo
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen green beans
3 cups chopped chicken
2 eggs
3-4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until light brown, about 1 minute. Add broth, pepper and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Add orzo and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until orzo is tender (aprox. 8 minutes).
2. Add green beans and chicken and simmer 2 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Warm egg mixture by gently whisking in about 1 cup hot broth in a thin stream.
3. Whisk egg mixture into soup and warm briefly over low heat 2 minutes. Do not boil or eggs will curdle. Adjust seasoning as needed with more lemon juice, salt, or pepper and serve.

4 servings
(8)