Greek Lemon Soup and Brussel Sprouts

I had some left over dill and farro from yesterday's meal, and some eggs I needed to use, so I made one of my favorite greek dishes: avgolomeno.  I used the guidelines from this "Egg and Lemon Soup," but used farro instead of brown rice.   It went well with the roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic glaze.

There's even an upper body workout for tonight.

Soup ingredients:

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup farro
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed or minced
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into four filets
• 1/4 cup chopped dill
• 2 eggs

Brussel Sprouts:

• bag full of brussel sprouts (two pounds?)
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees while you trim the stems and half the brussel sprouts.  Give a rough chop to the onion and garlic and mix together in a bowl.  Add just enough olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper.

Spread on a lined baking pan and leave in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Toss halfway through.

Put the chicken stock, chicken filets, farro, and garlic into a large pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until your chicken seems cooked through.

Remove the chicken and pull it apart with a fork.  Set aside for later.  Don't forget to take the brussel spouts out of the oven soon.  Cover them with aluminum foil to keep them warm for later.

Separate the eggs.  Whisk the whites vigorously in a large bowl until white and frothy.  Don't cheat, get them frothy!  Whisk the yolks just a little and add to the whites, whisk again.  

Trickiest part: slowly ladle the chicken broth into the eggs in a stream while whisking.  Keep ladling until about half the broth has been added to the eggs.  This tempering keeps the eggs from cooking quickly and curdling.  Then, you can add the egg-broth mix to the pot again while whisking.

Add the shredded chicken and dill and continue to stir while the soup thickens over the heat a bit.  

While the soup rests and thickens, put the balsamic in a small pot over very high heat.  Let it boil and thicken until it runs like a syrup.  Pour over the brussel sprouts and toss.