Lemon Chicken Soup

Good home-made stock really makes a difference to a soup,
so it's definitely worth the effort to make your own.
Stock and soup freezes for up to two months.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts with skin on

600ml ready-made or home-made chicken stock

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 stick celery, diced

30ml basmati or long-grain rice

Zest and juice of half a lemon

2 spring onions. Washed, trimmed and finely sliced

30ml fresh parsley, chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

15ml toasted almond flakes

Method:

Pour the stock into a large saucepan. Bring it to the boil and add the carrots, celery and rice. Reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes. Check that the rice and vegetables are just cooked. Remove the chicken, cut off the skin and shred the meat into strips.

Stir the lemon zest and juice into the soup, add the spring onions and half of the parsley. Season to taste.

Divide the strips of meat between warmed bowls and then scoop the soup over the top. Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and the almonds.