Soup Anytime of the Year!

Happy Monday!!

Guess what?!? I’m getting married THIS week! Ha- sounds CRAZY to say. I’m BEYOND excited, I don’t even really know how to put it into words. I don’t know if you saw, but I did my hair trial on Saturday & it went really well- I absolutely LOVED it. We also had a bunch of wedding stuff to do this weekend, as I’m sure you can imagine!

Yesterday was FULL of baking. Oh my gosh, my Kitchen Aid DEFINITELY got a workout! I will share those recipes with you tomorrow, only because I am still working on getting all of the pictures together.

I did try another new recipe this weekend, and it was outstanding! I found the recipe on Jessica’s blog (go figure 😉 ) for Sping Chicken Soup. I was so excited when I saw it because I am a soup freak! I can eat it any time of the year, even if it’s 105 degrees outside…like it’s been lately here in Central Florida.

I was very happy to find a new soup to try out…especially one LOADED with my favorite vegetable- MUSHROOMS. Mmmmmmm!

(don’t mind me if I just eat mushrooms straight from the can…everyone does that, right?! 😉 )

The other thing that I love about this soup is that it has little tiny pasta in it- ditalini. The smaller the better when it comes to soup in pasta..in my opinion at least. 🙂

I know Craig is not a fan of asparagus, so I just kind of snuck it in there..he happened to notice only half way through his huge bowl, but he didn’t seem to mind. He polished it off like nobody’s business..and that is huge coming from the guy that ‘doesn’t like soup as a meal.’ Ha! I showed him 😉

Spring Chicken Soup

(recipe copied DIRECTLY from here)

serves 4-6 +

2 slices of bacon, chopped ( I used 3 slices of turkey bacon)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 cloves of garlic, minced

4 cups raw spinach

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

12 asparagus spears, chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

6 cups low-sodium chicken stock

1 1/4 cups ditalini pasta (or another short/small pasta)

the zest of half a lime (I left this out, only because I forgot about it :/)

1/3 cup parmesan or romano cheese, grated

for garnish: fresh cilantro, grated romano cheese, avocado, green onions, fresh baguette slices or croutons

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add chopped bacon. Cook under fat is rendered and bacon is crispy, then remove bacon with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel. Add onions and mushrooms to the pot and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add in garlic, carrots and asparagus and cook for 5 minutes more. Add in salt, pepper and spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add in shredded chicken, beans, and chicken broth. Pour in pasta and bring soup to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to low. Stir in cheese.

Serve hot with additional cheese, avocado, lots of cilantro and green onions. Add a toasted baguette on the side.

Note: feel free to add additional stock/water if desired. This recipe produces a soup with just a little broth; if you prefer more, add an additional 2 cups or so. (I DID end up adding some additional broth to the soup…just to make it more soup like, but either way is delicious!)

Of course I served the soup with some fresh, hot bread. Isn’t that the ONLY way to eat soup!? 🙂 I think that why I love Panera so much, because of the huge hunks of bread that come with every meal. Sometimes I even ask for two pieces, if I’m having a ‘must have carbs’ moment. 🙂

Add some cheese, please..

Oh, and here’s my FAVORITE part of eating soup…

Ya GOTTA dip in the broth, right!? Mmm- the perfect ending to some great soup is always filling the bread with the broth. You know what’s funny? I HATE broth. Like, seriously hate. As in I eat a bowl of soup & then dump the broth out. My Dad used to get so mad at me for doing this when I was growing up, because he said I was wasting the best part. Well, now the only time I will eat it is with bread. 

I think you should try this, you will not be disappointed…guaranteed! And, you will get like a full serving of vegetables for like a week, so that’s a win-win 😉 Thanks again for another wonderful recipe, Jess 😀

This will also be my lunch for the rest of my days for work– only working Monday & Tuesday this week! ..and you better believe I’ll be looking forward to lunch both days 😉 Normally I just have a big salad, so this will be a nice change!

I know I owe you some workout posts, I promise to put those up soon. Once we get this whole wedding thing covered, then I will be back on top of my normal postings.

Hope you have a good day & that you’re off to a good start!! I’ll be sure to post those recipes for all of the goodies that I made this weekend!

Posted by Holly at Holly on the Run on May 23, 2011

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