Creamy Wild Rice, Mushroom & Chicken Soup

On a whim I bought a bag of soup mix when I was out shopping today. It was Shore Lunch Creamy Wild Rice soup mix. (It also comes in Tortilla Soup, Chili, Cheddar Broccoli, Creamy Potato and Chicken Noodle -- I also bought a package of Tortilla Soup to try out.)

Looking at the label I knew that making the soup as directed would be way too carby for it to be WLS-friendly, so I needed to add some protein somehow. I had also recently watched a cooking show (probably on the Food Network) where the chef made a cream of mushroom soup from scratch and used a myriad of different types of mushrooms. So I decided to start experimenting.

Thankfully... the results are fabulous! This is a hearty, rustic soup with an underlying woodsy flavor. The wild rice and cream mixture make it very filling on a small serving. It's definitely comforting on a cold winter day!

Creamy Wild Rice, Mushroom & Chicken Soup

• 1 package Shore Lunch Creamy Wild Rice soup mix
• 1 rotisserie chicken (yields about 1 pound meat)
• 4 cups mixed mushrooms*
• 1 32-ounce can chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups low-fat half-n-half

In large slow cooker add chicken broth and water. Whisk in soup mix. Pick chicken from bones and pull or cut into bite-size pieces. Roughly chop mushrooms. Add chicken and mushrooms to slow cooker. Allow to cook 2-3 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low. 30 minutes before the end of cooking, add half-n-half and allow to heat through.

*I don't know what kinds of mushrooms I used exactly because I don't know one from another. I know I used baby bella's (which is what I always buy for my everyday mushroom) and I know I used some enoki mushrooms (because they were labeled as such) and then I grabbed a couple packages of what they called "chef blend" -- which included several different varieties. Be adventurous and try something new!

Try this! It's delicious!

Pam