Thursday for Dinner

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This is another classic Greek dish which has been handed down from generation to generation. It is made with fresh and healthy ingredients, and it is the perfect meal to serve on a cold winter’s night. There are different variations of Avgolemono soup, but in this video Irene shows us how to prepare it with rice and chicken.

To prepare the base:

4 quarter chicken legs
2 medium potatoes cut into quarter pieces
1 cup chopped carrots
2 medium onions
2-4 stalks of celery
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of vegetable seasoning (Irene uses Vegeta)
1 cup of rice

To prepare the Avgolemono

2 eggs, separated
The juice of 2 lemons

Boil the chicken in a large pot filled with water. After about 10 minutes of boiling the chicken, remove any film that develops at the water surface. Add the coarsely chopped vegetables, olive oil, salt, and seasoning to the soup. Allow to boil for another 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. Add 1 cup of rice to the soup (be sure to wash the rice thoroughly before you add it). Add 1 cup of warm water and allow the rice to cook for 20 minutes.

Tear the chicken into small pieces and remove the bones. Add the meat to the soup and stir well. After about 2 minutes turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs whites until fluffy. Add the yolks and continue to whisk the eggs. Add the juice of 2 lemons and mix well. To add the avgolemono to the soup, first add a small portion of the soup into the egg mixture and then slowly add the entire mixture to the soup.

Garnish with fresh pepper and lemon.

Enjoy!