Avgolemono

Not that the deliciously fragrant smell of a warm rotisserie chicken isn't enticing enough by itself. The scent reaching you as push your buggy through the cheese counter, past the prepared food stations, and onto the bakery. The promise of a warm dinner on your table in minutes is alluring and then you get a second whiff of garlic and herbs. It overpowers you and suddenly your original dinner plan is cast aside for a perfectly pleasing winter supper of rotisserie chicken.

No, no. You don't need ANOTHER reason to grab a rotisserie chicken for dinner, but IF you had another reason, then maybe you would start to act like us and indulge more and more often.

Our other reason? It's called Avgolemono, a Greek soup of lemon and eggs and, well, chicken. So, after a delicious and hearty winter meal of rotisserie chicken, we wrap up the leftover chicken (we typically leave half of the chicken uneaten) and store it for two nights later when we make this soup. And, the greatest part is, it's SO easy. I mean REALLY EASY. The-second-dinner-served-in-one-week-in-less-than-20-minutes-easy!

Avgolemono

4 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup uncooked orzo salt and pepper 3 eggs 3 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 1/2 small lemons) shredded rotisserie chicken

In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. I've even used homemade turkey stock in this and it's quite good, so use whatever broth or stock you have on hand, and, of it's homemade then even better! Add the orzo and cook until tender but still al dente, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to low; let simmer. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and lemon juice until smooth. Ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg-and-lemon mixture, whisking quickly to combine and to prevent the egg from scrambling. Add the mixture back to the simmering saucepan. Stir just until the soup becomes opaque and thickens as the eggs cook, about 1 minute. Add salt and pepper (to taste) and the shredded chicken and serve right away.

PS Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your kind words in response to Wednesday's post. Your comments, emails, and phone calls mean the world to me! You truly lit up my week!