My sister Linda and her husband threw a graduation party for their son Jesse recently. Of course she called me to come and help prep. I cut up about 4000 fresh vegetables (seriously) for a vegetable tray. I cut up cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and celery, along with the snow peas, mini carrots, grape tomatoes. She had so much left over she sent me home with a gallon bag full of veggies. Can a person eat too many veggies?
After several days I had separated the veggies out. I divided them into containers and made a batch of ……….veggie tray mash. The next day I used the remaining carrots and asparagus along with onions and leftover chicken breast to make a small pot of soup! Both dishes turned out well. I impressed myself with the depth of flavors I created while saving good vegetables from the garbage bin!
I used the larger mini carrots and sliced them up. I added them to a pot along with the diced up asparagus.
I diced up a cup of leftover chicken breast from a previous night of grilling and added it to the pot.
I added 1/2 cup of diced onion and 6 cups of chicken broth to the pot. I put in a few shakes of sage and some garlic powder. I let the soup come to a bubble and cook until the carrots were fork tender.
Orzo is a fun addition to soup so I added about a cup of dried orzo to the pot and stirred well. I let it cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
I taste tested and the soup was fine for salt but I added a few shakes of black pepper and served myself up a bowl.
Mmmm! The soup was excellent! Using the remains of a veggie tray, some leftover chicken and a few cups of chicken broth makes a very tasty soup! I liked the orzo, it made the soup seem lighter. Later the orzo absorbed most of the broth so future servings were more like a casserole than a soup. Not a bad thing, really. I could have added more broth to make it a soup again but I was fine with it.
Sister Linda’s veggie tray provided many nights of veggies as well as several meals. Between the veggie tray mash and the veggie tray soup, I was a happy camper!
Veggie Tray Chicken Orzo Soup
- 1 cup mini carrots; sliced
- 1/2 cup asparagus; sliced
- 1/2 cup onion; diced
- 1 cup cooked chicken breast; diced
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon sage
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup dried orzo (I used the orzo shaped like rice)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Add all ingredients but orzo to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for 20 minutes.
- Add orzo and cook for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste test for seasoning and serve hot.

Yum I love orzo!
LikeLike
Look so easy to make and yummy
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really was so easy to taste so good! Thanks!
LikeLike