Bacon, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

A dear friend of mine has had one hell of a bad week. When she called me and asked if I could lend an ear, it seemed like a little soul-snuggling chicken soup was in order.

We gobbled our way through most of our local box, but I had a bunch of frozen veggies killing time in the freezer.

I come from the Irish school of soup-making. If it's not some sort of thick creamy soup, the stuff-to-broth ratio needs to strongly favor the stuff.

I used:
8 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2 pieces
4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 box chicken stock
8 cups of water
3 carrots, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 cup wild rice
1 can black eyed peas, drained
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Fry up the bacon in the bottom of a stock pot over medium heat. When it's starting to think about being crispy, add the chicken. When the bacon gets crispy, add the carrots and onion and let them sweat it out, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add paprika and dried herbs, salt and pepper and toss the contents of the pot. Add the chicken stock and water and allow the water to come to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Once a good simmer is achieved, add the rice, peas and black eyed peas. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve with cornbread.

Lately I've been digging on the Pepperwood Grove label, in particular their Pinot Noir. It's surprisingly smooth and well-rounded, and winds up being a pretty light, drinkable red. And at $6 a bottle at HEB, it's certainly easy to keep around.