lemony avgolemono soup

I’ve made traditional avgolemono many times — Greek lemon and egg soup — by whisking some hot broth into the beaten eggs to thicken the whole thing. Love it. But I had leftover egg yolks this weekend and lots of cream, so I nixed using the whole eggs and used the yolks + cream instead. And you know what? It was like the best cream of chicken soup ever. If you don’t have kale, use baby spinach. If you have leftover cooked grains, use them instead of the rice. If you don’t have cooked turkey or chicken, leave it out. That’s the key ingredient for sheltering times: substitution.

ingredients

1/2 cup white rice*
kosher salt
olive oil
1  shallot or 2 green onions, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
6 cups homemade chicken broth (or low-sodium if canned)
6 kale leaves (regular or Tuscan kale), or 1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup chopped cooked turkey or chicken
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
freshly chopped mint, optional

directions

In a small saucepan, cook the rice, covered, in 1 cup water with a pinch of salt until tender, about 18 minutes, or as directed on package.

Meanwhile, in a larger saucepan over medium-high heat, warm enough olive oil to coat the bottom of pan. Add the shallot or green onions and celery and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. While you are waiting for it to boil, strip the leaves off the kale, if using, and discard the stems. Chop the leaves into small pieces. (If using baby spinach, do not chop.)

When broth is boiling, add the kale or spinach and the turkey or chicken meat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Turn off heat under pot and stir the lemon juice into the soup. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Now ladle out a small amount of hot broth and whisk it into the egg mixture to temper it. Then slowly pour the egg mixture into the soup in the pot, stirring all the time. Let the soup rest for about 5 minutes to heat the eggs through. Stir in the hot cooked rice (or leftover grains) and season soup to taste with salt. Ladle into bowls and garnish with mint, if using.

*note: you can use 1 cup cooked leftover white rice, brown rice, farro, or orzo pasta instead. Add it when you add the kale to the soup.