Soup-er Sunday – My Version of Comfort Food

Today’s Soup-er Sunday is my kind of comfort food. Vegetable Soup! It’s finally getting chilly here in Virginia Beach (high of 45 today – don’t laugh at me Wisconsin Family!)  I’m serving up the vegetable soup with a side of grilled cheese sandwiches.

I went back to my favorite food blog to find the recipe for my soup: Picky Palate. So far all of the recipes that I have made from her website have been winners in our household.

Hearty Chicken Soup

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
½ Cup red bell pepper, finely diced
½ Cup white onion, finely diced
2 Tablespoons jalapeno, minced (seeded and membranes removed)
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 14 oz cans chicken broth
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 can northern beans, undrained (white beans)
1 can drained corn kernels
2 Cups thinly sliced fresh spinach leaves, stems removed
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped or shredded
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning Mix

1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute carrots, celery, bell pepper, onion and jalapeno for 5-8 minutes stirring frequently. Stir in garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with fresh rolls. Enjoy!

(or if you are me: serve with a grilled cheese!)

As usual, I did make one small change to the recipe. I used Italian Seasoning Mix instead of Ranch. I sent Christian to the grocery store with my list and he came home with Italian. I doubt that it made huge difference. It was delicious, so I will probably stick with Italian seasoning since I always have that in the house.  The recipe was incredibly easy to make. The only time-consuming portion was chopping up all the veggies, but even that took less than 30 minutes. Once they were sautéed, everything was tossed into one pan. Instant dinner!  (I have a feeling I’ll be making various versions of the soup on nights I clean out my produce drawer. Normally I make stir-fry when I have a lot of veggies that need to be cooked, but this is a great alternate). I also think I will try tossing everything in the slow cooker with the chicken (once it’s cooked and shredded) after Chet’ makes his appearance.

Don’t be scared of the jalapeno either. The soup was not spicy!

The soup was delicious! Cole gave it his stamp of approval too! Although he isn’t a picky eater, it is always nice when he willingly tries something new and enjoys it. Now if only I could figure out how to make him eat his dinner a little faster. He literally takes an hour every night to finish his food and that is with constant reminders to keep eating. It can make for a long night at the dinner table (and cold soup)!