Hearty Chicken, Vegetable and Wild Rice Soup

From Penzy's Thanksgiving Catalog, submitted by Brohter Aelred. He notes 8 cups dark turkey meat chopped can replace the chicken breast. He highly recommends using the Parmesean cheese rind as it adda alot to the flavor of the soup. Prep and Cooking times do not include stock making time.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 18-20
• Yields: 1 pot

Ingredients

• Stock

• 2  lbs chicken breasts, bone in
• 4  quarts water
• 1⁄2 medium onion, peeled
• 1  large carrot, cut into 2-3 pieces
• 1  large celery rib, cut in half
• 1 -2  bay leaf
• 4  tablespoons  chicken base (or turkey base if using turkey)

• Soup

• 4  ounces wild rice
• 3  large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3  large celery ribs, large dice
• 1⁄2 medium onion, large dice
• 2  medium zucchini, large dice
• 1⁄2 lb mushroom, fresh, sliced
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
•  parmesan cheese, rind cut into 3 square 1-inch pieces (optional)
•  black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. For the stock - In a large stock pot, bring the chicken, water, onion, carrot, celery and bay leaves to a boil. Boil until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, shred and return to the pot. Discard the bones. Add the soup base and stir to dissolve. If starting with cooked turkey, mix with water, bay leaves and soup base and bring to boil.
2. For the soup - After returning the chicken to the pot, bring back to boil. Add the wild rice and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the stock veggies (onion, carrot, celery and bay leaves) and discard. Add the diced carrots, celery and onion and cook for 15 minutes. Add zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the Parmesean cheese rinds, if using, and the Pepper and cook for another 5-10 minutes more until the cheese gets melty.
3. Serve with biscuits or bread.