A Greek encounter this week: exchanged a quick pleasantry with actress Rita Wilson, but I won’t tell you where (hey, this is LA, celebs are everywhere). I love Greeks and I love Greek food, thanks to college pals, brothers John and George (who were my high school pals, too). Their Yayas cooked yummy stuff for them every visit home, which they brought back to school and shared. Nice boys.
Here at home, we have a nearby fast food place called Daphne’s that serves surprisingly good Greek food. Their tangy Lemon Orzo Soup is sooo lemony, gives me a little tummy burn sometimes. So I was excited to find a recipe for this good stuff in the January/February Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. The haircutter’s salon was too crowded for me to sneaky-tear-it-out; I actually paid my money for a copy of that issue. Martha’s recipe was twice the size I needed and was made with rice, but I wanted to use orzo. Below is my adaptation. If you suffer from heartburn, just admire the photo. It’s quite tangy.
Greek Lemon Orzo Soup
Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine
- 2 cans (14 oz.) chicken broth or 4 cups homemade stock
- 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 3/4 cup orzo
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup lemon juice from 1 large lemon
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- Italian parsley
In a medium saucepan, combine broth and chicken. Bring broth to a gentle simmer over medium heat, reduce heat slightly so liquid is moving but not simmering. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and let rest until cool enough to handle. Shred into bite sized pieces.
Add 1 cup water to the broth, bring back to a rapid simmer, add orzo and cook according to package directions. Return chicken to pot. In medium bowl, whisk together eggs and lemon juice. Whisking constantly, slowly pour 1 cup hot broth into egg mixture, immediately whisk egg mixture into pot. Season soup with salt and pepper, garnish with parsley. Makes 2 large servings
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I have always loved Greek lemon soups, and this looks like a simple recipe to try. I have bookmarked this.
Hey, I ran into Elizabeth Taylor at the opera in NYC! How do you like that? lol!!! As a Greek I can tell you that your soup looks yummy. Ultra traditionalists make it with rice, but it tastes much better with orzo. Congratulations on making the egg lemon sauce. It can be tricky. Glad I ran into you blog. Will visit often.
i love the use of orzo in this soup!! It looks like the perfect way t get over this springtime cold I have.
Ah, hate it when you can’t do the sneaky tear out ;P
A Greek friend once gave me a Greek cookbook and this was one of the recipes I tried, it was amazing, must do it again.
I just made and posted about this soup today, and then not 10 minutes later found this version on my RSS feed (I’ve been a reader of Worth the Whisk for awhile, but never commented. The coincidence was so funny I just had to say something). In researching which recipe to make I saw so many with orzo. I wish I could have used it, but my hubby can’t have gluten. Maybe next time I’ll make a batch of this version just for me! I love reading the content here on Worth The Whisk.
My friend’s yaya made us baklava…but not this yummy soup. This looks and sounds fantastic.
Rita Wilson…what a nice encounter. I keep running into Wee Man…have yet to be inspired by this run in though.