Cure-All Chicken Soup

From the cookbook Cheap. Fast. Good! by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross http://kitchenscoop.com/

Salt for cooking rice
2/3 lb skinless,boneless chicken breast halves
1 C Long grain rice
2 tsp veg. oil
1 Lg Onion (About 1 C Chopped)
2 med. carrots (About 1 C Chopped)
3 med. ribs of celery (about 1 1/2 C diced)
1 clove garlic minced or 1 tsp bottled minced
1 tsp finely minced ginger
2 cans (about 14 oz) chicken broth
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Bring 2 C lightly salted water to a boil in a 2 Qt saucepan

2. While the water is heating, partially thaw the chicken if frozen.

3. When the water comes to a boil, add the rice, stir and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 min. (Can use a rice cooker instead).

4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 4 1/2 qt  or larger dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Peel the onion and finely chop it, adding it to the pot as you chop. Cut the partially defrosted or fresh chicken into bite sized pieces, adding them to the pot as you cut. When all of the chicken is in the pot, raise the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring, until the chicken is almost cooked through, about 4 min.

5. Peel and coarsley chop the carrots, adding them to the pot as you chop. Coarsley dice the celery, adding it to the pot. Add garlic and ginger. Continue to cook stirring occasionally, until the celery is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

6. Add the broth to the pot, raise the heat to high, and bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium and cook at a moderate boil to combine the flavors, 5 minutes. Season with black pepper. To serve, spoon some rice into each bowl and top it with the soup.