The Recipe That Started It All... Veggie Lover's Chicken Soup

Believe it or not, our joint obsession over this simple little soup recipe is what prompted the entire concept of this blog... Cassie made the soup first with her own modifications... I tried it the next night making a few changes of my own... then Cassie made it AGAIN a different way... then I added more ingrediants into my leftovers... Basically, this one simple recipe has fed us for a week and sparked our collective cooking creativity...

Here is the original: http://family.go.com/food/recipe-ew-504823-vegetable-lover-s-chicken-soup-t/

But here is our (highly superior!) revision:

Yield: 6 bowls of soup (Cassie makes less at a time, so 1/2 the recipe if you choose! I like to have the leftovers to take to lunch at work)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pot - you may need more if your veggies start to dry out or stick)

8 ounces chicken tenders , cut into bite-size chunks

2 cups finely diced veggies (I use zucchini, carrots, and celery; Cassie has also tried artichokes and broccoli... whatever you have/like seems to work just fine! If you use spinach, make sure not to add it until the end...)

1 large shallot , finely chopped (or 2-3 little ones)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend

1/8 teaspoon salt (or garlic salt)

1 can italian style diced tomatos

32 ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons orzo or other tiny pasta, such as farfelline, or 4 tablespoons rice

Directions
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add veggies, shallot, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened. Add tomatoes, broth, wine and orzo (or other pasta or rice); increase heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the pasta/rice is tender, about 8 minutes, or according to package directions. Stir in spinach (if using), the cooked chicken and any accumulated juices from the chicken; cook, stirring, until the chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes.

This is great to eat off of for a few days and it supposed to freeze well too (haven't tried that yet!) Enjoy!

-Lauren