A friend of mine gave me this recipe and it has turned out to be one of my favorites.
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
4 Tbsp. butter
6 c. water
6 cubes chicken bouillon
1-2 Carrots, peeled and sliced
3 chicken breasts, boneless
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk, whipping cream or half and half
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/4 c. water
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups water
Slices of Swiss cheese.
I have a son that really does not like the crunch of onions in his food, so when I have onions in anything I make, I put them in my food processor and chop them up very finely. When I have celery and onions I chop them together. If you do not have a food processor, or you like the crunch of these vegetables, just chop them up to the size you like.
Saute the onion and celery in butter until tender crisp. While they are cooking, put a large soup pot on the stove and fill with six cups of water. Add chicken bouillon (I use cubes, but I have friends that only use granules. Other people I know really like soup bases. I find them extremely expensive and I really cannot taste any difference when I use them in comparison to the cubes.) to water and get boiling. Add sliced carrots and sauteed vegetables. Add your raw chicken breasts and get all this boiling. If you have time, let this simmer on a back burner for several hours. If you do not have time, add your raw rice and let this simmer until rice is done, about 20-30 minutes.)
Cook 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of water. I know there are a lot of people who really like their rice cookers, but as for me, I have found I can make perfect rice every time if I use my kitchen timer. Put the water in your pan and then add the rice. Get the mixture boiling, reduce heat to the lowest temperature, put the lid on (very important that there is as little steam escaping as possible, and set your kitchen timer to 20 minutes. When the buzzer rings, take the lid off and look. If you see little holes in the rice it is done. Put the lid back on and take off heat until you are ready to use.
After the vegetables are done and the chicken is cooked, take out the breasts and shred into small pieces. Put in the lemon pepper and add milk, cream or half and half, whatever you choose. (I always choose cream as it is more stable and doesn't separate like milk or half and half. Also it adds so much flavor to the soup. This way you do not need to add extra fat like so many recipes ask you to do.)
Mix cornstarch and cold water together. Add to soup and stir until well mixed. If you cooked your rice separately, add it now. I like my soup chunky so I add all three cups. Let everything simmer until you are ready to serve.
Place a slice of Swiss cheese in each bowl and ladle the soup on top. I usually serve the soup on the table with the cheese on the side. Then people can decide on their own. My kids do not Swiss cheese, but I LOVE it!