Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup With Asparagus and Caramelized Mushrooms

This is my 2nd time making this dish and I LOVE it! It's kinda chickenoodlesoupy but with a lot more flavor! It's made with a ton of delicious, fresh, healthy ingredients from the farmers market, my yard, and of course Publix.

Ingredients:
6T Butter/Olive Oil
4 Chicken Breasts
2 48oz boxes of Chicken Broth
2 Lemons
1 Lime
2T white wine Vinegar
1/2T Sriracha
1/2 a red/purple Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 large Carrot (or several smaller ones)
1/2 a Bell Pepper (I used green this time and orange last time, doesn't matter)
1 Bay Leaf
2T dried Thyme (or several fresh, sprigs if you have it)
1 sprig fresh Rosemary
Seasoning Salt (I use McCormic)
Paprika

1 Tomato
8oz Baby Bella Mushrooms
1 Shalot (or the other half of the red onion)
1 box Orzo pasta
Fresh Basil
Fresh Parsley
A bunch of Asparagus (and/or fresh chopped Spinach, Broccoli, Green Beans, Asparagus Beans...)

Ok, so first things first; chop up the onion and garlic, and zest the lemons. Trim the meat and season it with seasoning salt and paprika. Put half of the oil in large stock pot with all the garlic, half the onion, and a liiiitle bit of the lemon zest. Let that sizzle until the onions barely start to caramelize. Then, put the chicken in and sear it on each side. Once the chicken is seared you will add much of the remaining ingredients.... Add the rest of the chopped onion, juice of both lemons and the lime, white wine vinegar, diced carrot and Bell Pepper, Bay leaf, Thyme, and Rosemary. (All of the italicized ingredients at the bottom of the ingredient list are not added until the end!)

Bring all that to a boil then turn it down to simmer for a couple hours, until the chicken just starts to fall apart. You can speed this up by chopping up the chicken before seasoning and searing it.

So, when the meat is starting to fall apart it's time to initiate the next phase. I learned a little something about cooking mushrooms from this post; which is why the mushrooms receive the treatment they do. You will need to chop up the shallot and mushrooms. Put the remaining butter or oil in a large skillet and heat on medium heat. When the oil is hot, put in the chopped shallot and mushrooms and allow them to caramelize, stirring occasionally.
While the mushrooms caramelize, you will need to add the Orzo and diced Tomato to the soup. Then, when there's only a few minutes left add the Asparagus (chopped into bite sized pieces), chopped fresh Basil and Parsley (if you don't have fresh, just leave the Basil and Parsley out). When I add the Asparagus I remove the tough bottom section, but the bottom of the edible part I put in first, then the middle, then the top; each a minute or 2 after the previous, this keeps the tops from getting overcooked, the tops barely need to cook at all.
Immediately before serving, stir half of the caramelized shallot and mushrooms into the soup; save the other half to sprinkle on top as a garnish.

And there you have it! Lemon Chicken Orzo soup with Asparagus and Caramelized Mushrooms. The first time I made it I added chopped fresh Spinach near the end with the fresh Basil and Parsley. It was delish! We are starting to have a TON of Yard Long Beans (aka Asparagus Beans) in the garden, so I might try them next time, instead of Asparagus. I think Broccoli would be good in this soup as well (or instead).
Enjoy!