Can I just puuurrrty please dive head first into this pot on a cold, sleeting/freezing rain/snowy day and hibernate there until May? PLEASE?????? Ok, maybe that’s what I’ll be asking Santa for this year!
Confession: most of this soup never even made it to leftover land. It was supposed to, that was the plan. Tomorrow is my husband’s Holiday work party and the kids need a dinner. A big pot of soup is perfect, I said. It will last until the end of the week, I said. This is totally the last bite, I said. Then I lost all self control and kept coming back for more. Where did my self control go again?
Oh that’s right, my self control flew right out the window when I realized how delicious and nutritious this soup was. One more bite because it contains veggies, and then another because Hello! Whole Grains are good for you! And then just one more for the spinach! And the tomatoes! And the ground chicken is lean! And come on, one more because it looks pretty! Ok, heck just dump the whole pot in my mouth, please.
Then all of a sudden I’m all like…honey did you eat all the soup? 🙂
This soup all started when I was at Wegman’s today and saw the organic ground chicken on sale. I kept thinking back to a few years ago when I tried to use ground chicken for tacos and it was a complete disaster. We basically just threw a TON of cheese on top and gagged it down because it had a really odd texture and was just plain awful. I used to use ground turkey quite a bit, so I thought ground chicken would be similar but in truth it really isn’t the same at all.
Today was the first time since the taco debacle that I even considered purchasing ground chicken again and I’m so glad I did! Sometimes I get so sick of using the same meats over and over again, so I thought heck, why not give it another go. I’m a much, much better cook now and I was confident I could doctor it up to make something super yummy out of it. Immediately I thought SOUP, so I went with it. I was really surprised how awesome it turned out, so I just had to share for all those ground chicken doubters out there like myself.
So what made it different then the awful tacos? Well 1) I wasn’t using a seasoning packet that contains an array of random crap added because we just don’t get down with Ortega like that anymore! Then 2) There are so many other flavors going on, and everything kind of blends together to create an overall great taste. Basically what I’m saying is that I was totally wrong for all this time and I used to be a horrible cook! 🙂
*I usually use my own chicken stock, but in a pinch today I found this organic free range Pacific stock that does not contain any added MSG/Yeast Extract. If you don’ t have any homemade stock on hand, I highly recommend checking out this product.
Chicken Minestrone Soup
By Published: December 10, 2014
- Yield: 6-8 Servings
- Prep: 10 mins
- Cook: 20 mins
- Ready In: 30 mins
Can I just puuurrrty please dive head first into this pot on a cold, sleeting/freezing rain/snowy day and hibernate there until …
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 carrots
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 (15 ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
- 4 cups chicken stock homemade or organic preffered
- 1 can great norther beans (drained and rinsed) optional
- 2 Tbsp white wine
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp whole grain mustard
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp kosher or pink himalayan salt
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- handful spinach roughly chopped
- 2 cups farfelle pasta
Instructions
- Dice onion, celery, carrots. Place in large pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil, and sauté over medium-high heat until veggies are fragrant and beginning to get tender. Add ground chicken and cook through.
- Add all ingredients (excluding spinach), starting with liquids and finishing with seasonings. Use both whole tomatoes & juice in soup. Bring pot to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Allow pasta to cook through, stirring frequently while breaking whole tomatoes apart.
- When pasta is cooked through roughly chop spinach, add to pot, and serve.
Can’t find any reference to the bow tie pasta that I see in the picture. How much, cooked or uncooked, and when is it added? Thanks
Ahh thank you for catching that Mary Jane. I have had so many issues with the plugin I use to input recipes, I need to find a better version ASAP! I used 2 cups whole wheat bow tie pasta in the soup. Will fix that today, thanks again!
Great soup! My family loved it.
So glad to hear that Sue!