no. 133: Greek lemon chicken soup with couscous
Plus, a word on recovery ❤️🩹
It’s hard for me to put into words how I’ve felt being in LA for the last two weeks. Last Monday, January 6th, I proudly strutted into the hospital to undergo my ACL reconstruction surgery, and the following day on Tuesday, January 7th, multiple wildfires devastated the city of Los Angeles.
Recovering from my surgery safely tucked away in my bed while simultaneously getting the Watch Duty app notifications alerting me to the destruction that is happening just a few miles away from me has been such a jarring experience. Over the last 10 days, I have felt the strangest mixture of sadness, disappointment, guilt, anxiety, grief, and dare I say, FOMO, for my inability to participate in relief efforts.
I feel so proud of and inspired by friends and neighbors who have been donating their time, resources, and energy to caring for both first responders and those who lost their homes in the fires. I am incredibly eager to get back into the kitchen, but I’m constantly reminding myself that there will be opportunities for me to help when my body allows me to.
Recovery happens one day at a time. The city of Los Angeles, just like my ACL, will recover with patience, time, lots of hard work, and the support of a community. I am not from LA, but I have lived here for almost 4 years now, and it is a place that truly feels like home to me. I really can’t imagine where else I’d want to live.
One of the brighter spots in the last couple weeks has been my continued KNITTING JOURNEY. I completed a couple more beanies, as well as a custom sweater for Pepper (she despises it). I’ve now begun my first human sweater and I’m showing no signs of stopping. I have found that I’m genuinely excited to pick up my needles and get back to work.
I cannot recommend enough finding something to occupy your restless little fingers instead of doomscrolling TikTok for the latest conspiracy theory. It has helped me cope with the heaviness of everything happening immensely.
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
Serves: 4-6
Active time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
I have slowly started to get back into the kitchen, but candidly, I haven’t been cooking much these days. I’m sharing an oldie but a goodie this week. One of my favorite, comforting recipes. Make it for yourself, your friends, your neighbors, your community, whoever. Make an extra quart and freeze it for your future self. It is truly a warm hug.
From January 2024: It is such a perfect soup. The chicken broth is thickened and made richer with eggs and egg yolks, and the whole dish gets a mighty punch from freshly squeezed lemon juice. Typically this soup is made with rice or orzo, but I had some pearl couscous leftover from the shower that I decided to use. To me, they are a textural delight and I would highly recommend these lil’ gems.
The most crucial step when it comes to making this soup is to temper the eggs. By introducing the hot broth very gradually to the raw eggs, this ensures that you won’t have any scrambled eggs floating around in your soup. I would recommend using homemade chicken stock, but if you don’t have any, store bought works fine. You could also use a whole raw chicken to make stock, and then use that chicken in the soup (like this recipe).
Whatever you do, make sure you add 1 metric mouth full of dill to this soup. It wants it. It needs it. It deserves it.
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ medium fennel bulb, fronds reserved
½ medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chicken broth (homemade or store bought)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried dill (optional)
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup pearl couscous or orzo (if using white rice, add ½ cup)
3 cups shredded chicken
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
Freshly chopped dill, for serving
In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add fennel, onion, carrots, and celery and cook until soft, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.
Add broth, oregano, and dill, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add couscous and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until couscous is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Add chicken to pot and bring back to a simmer.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Slowly add 1 cup of hot broth to eggs while whisking. Slowly whisk mixture back into the pot. Let simmer until thickened, 5 minutes.
Serve soup with fresh dill and more lemon juice, to taste. Serve immediately.
Do the eggs give it this ‘creamy’ look? Sounds amazing, thanks for sharing!!
Your knitting looks fantastic!!