Sunday's Soup

You have to make this soup!!!!

I came across this site, http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_soup_recipes, and the word healthy of course caught my attention, well, healthy and soup! I've been adding a little chicken to my diet lately as I have felt that I needed a little more protein than what I was getting in my normal diet. The recipe that jumped out at me was Chicken and Spinach Soup with Pesto. How could I go wrong??? I LOVE spinach and pesto so it had to be a winner and IT IS!!! We had it for supper last night and my husband and I both loved it. As usual, I made a couple of tweaks, but only a couple of very minor tweaks. Here's the original recipe, my changes will follow at the end.

Chicken and Spinach Soup with Pesto

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup carrot or diced red bell pepper
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 ounces), cut into quarters
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 6 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans or great northern beans, rinsed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup plain or herbed multigrain croutons for garnish (optional)

• PREPARATION

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrot (or bell pepper) and chicken; cook, turning the chicken and stirring frequently, until the chicken begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Stir in broth and marjoram; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
2. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken pieces to a clean cutting board to cool. Add spinach and beans to the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
3. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, Parmesan and basil in a food processor (a mini processor works well). Process until a coarse paste forms, adding a little water and scraping down the sides as necessary.
4. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Stir the chicken and pesto into the pot. Season with pepper. Heat until hot. Garnish with croutons, if desired.
• My changes;
• 1. I did not use a chicken breast. The market where I shop makes a lovely chicken sausage. The only seasoning is red and green bell peppers. I simply cut away the casing and saute it. If you cannot get a sausage like this, I recommend adding a little red and green bell pepper to the soup.
• 2. I used 1 cup of diced carrots.
• That's it for my changes. Rather than top the soup with the croutons, I served the soup with the bread that you see in the picture.
• Try and make the pesto in the recipe, a store bought pesto will not be quite the same. When the pesto was added, the broth became the most beautiful shade of green.  
• Hope you are enjoying your Sunday!