Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

It got chilly here this past week! I roasted a chicken earlier in the week, and I had some leftovers, so I used them to make a delicious soup to warm us up. It did the trick. My son and I had been sick for a few days, and chicken soup is so good when you're sick. My Hubbie is not usually a fan of brothy soups, but he loved this. Also, this soup is a nice option to serve if you or someone you're feeding is ding the gluten-free thing. You can also substitute leftover Thanksgiving Turkey for the chicken to use up some leftovers.

Ingredients:

8 cups of chicken stock (I used homemade, and you can find my recipe here)
1 cup of uncooked brown rice
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated on a microplane
2 carrots, sliced into coins
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cups of cooked chicken, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
Salt, to taste. If you're using canned broth or bouillon cubes, you won't need to add much, if any. Since my homemade stock doesn't contain salt, I added nearly 2 teaspoons.
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Bring the stock and bay leaves to a low boil in a large pot, add brown rice and continue to simmer. I like to get this going and then start chopping the veggies. Once the veggies are chopped, add them to the pot, and return to a simmer. Cover the pot and let it cook for 20 minutes. After minutes, add the chicken and simmer 10 minutes. Check the carrots and rice to ensure that they are tender. Add seasonings and optional parsley, tasting as you go to make sure it is seasoned enough.