Chicken Soup with Rice

Stephen and I have cleaned our wee butts off the last few days; my mom is coming to visit, and she's staying with us. Truly, nothing makes as young woman think about soap scum and bookshelf dust quite like the knowledge that her mother is coming to stay. Stephen cleaned the kitchen before he went to work this morning, and I'd planned on avoiding that room completely, for fear of the mess I tend to leave in my wake.

Alas, I woke up hungry, but not for a bagel from the coffeeshop down the block. What, I wondered, could I make for lunch that would be warm and satisying but also quick and easy, and, most of all, not messy?

It was then that I remembered the carefully portioned homemade chicken stock in the freezer. I'd been saving it to make risotto, but this seemed like a low-level emergency, and I thought it would be happy to sacrifice itself to the cause. I sauteed some onion and garlic with a diced carrot and rib of celery. When it was tender, I put in two baggies worth of the amber-colored wonder, still frozen. A few minutes later, it melted and came to a boil, I added a few handfuls of arborio rice, and simmered it until the rice was tender. I finished the soup off with frozen peas, a dollop of heavy cream for richness, and a sprinkling each of parsely and dill for freshness.

As quick as that, I had a hot and comforting lunch. But, perhaps more importantly, I'd only dirtied one saucepan, a knife and my smalled cutting board. If it wasn't for the fantastic aroma lingering in the apartment, you'd hardly know I'd cooked at all.