Avgolemano

I am a soup fiend. Even when it's over 100 degrees out, I will be most comfortable eating soup and wrapped in a blanket inside (important point: the ac is on). I especially love the Greek soup Avgolemono, which is an egg and lemon based soup. My favourite avgolemono can be found in Coronado at the ferry landing: Spyro's Gyros makes a delicious version. Daphne's is ok, but not quite the same, however, Daphne's can be found much easier. In 2008, the Contra Costa Times published a recipe for avgolemono and my mom cut it out and mailed it to me. It's been stuck to my fridge ever since. This year, in my attempt to cook more often, James and I decided to cook it for dinner one night. The recipe in the Times does not include chicken, but most versions of the soup have bits of chicken in them. If you want to make it vegetarian, I guess you could substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, but it won't ever be a vegan dish because of the egg. I tried to find an online version, but was unable to find the correct version, but this should take you to the version I springpad-ed: Avgolemano recipe.



James and I decided to halve the recipe since we didn't want to feed 8 people. We halved everything but the lemon juice, and that's because I love tart flavours, if you don't, just use the juice of one lemon, which should be plenty. Bring the broth to a simmer and cook the rice fully. Last night, we had a bit of a mishap since we halved the broth, but forgot to halve the rice. If that happens, just add more broth and bring it back to a boil. The original recipe called for the egg whites to be beaten until they form stiff peaks. That's ridiculous. I'm not going to use my awesome Kitchenaid mixer to beat two egg whites and my wrist got way too tired, so just beat the yolks til they thicken and beat the whites til they're nice and frothy. Then fold the whites into the yolks: mix in a little at a time, trying to bring the yolks up and over the added whites. Make sure you mix it all up before adding the next part of the whites. When the rice is cooked completely, you can add in the egg mixture, stirring the broth constantly. This makes the soup get thick and frothy. Add the chopped up chicken and let it heat through completely.


This soup is nice and light, and it's really easy to make. It's great for a late night dinner, and there's usually some left over for lunch or a snack the next day. Best of all it's free of dairy, red meat, spiciness and grease! Going out to eat with these restrictions isn't fun, but it's a good way to jump start my desire to start eating healthier, I guess. Tonight: baked scallops!