Soup on a Rainy Day

Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

served with Homemade Oatmeal Bread

Two mini loaves of homemade bread

Mmmm: beans, carrots, spinach...

Cinnamon rolls

Liliana eats soup.

       This past Tuesday was a rainy, soggy, drizzly day--perfect for snuggling under a blanket with two toddlers on my lap and a stack of books beside me!  It also seemed like the perfect day to make my new favorite soup (Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto) and a batch of my Aunt Connie's Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread (made into two tiny loaves and a pan of cinnamon rolls).  My cousin Rachel came for dinner so we gloried in the stories of her recent engagement as we sipped soup and broke bread together.  Yay for rainy days, good books, healthy food, and a happy family!

 

 

 

Recipe for Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

 

2 tsp/1 T olive oil

9 carrots, diced

1 red pepper, diced

chicken breast (thinly sliced)

1 lg clove garlic, minced

2 c reduced sodium broth

3 c water

1 1/2 tsp dried marjoram

3 oz baby spinach, coarsely chopped

1 15-oz can cannelloni beans, rinsed

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 c lightly packed fresh basil leaves

1 T pine nuts

freshly ground pepper

 

Directions:

Heat 2 tsp olive oil & add carrots, red pepper and chicken.  Cook until chicken is browned and carrots mostly cooked.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute.  Stir in broth, water, and marjoram and bring to boil.  Reduce and simmer.  Transfer chicken to a plate and cut into smaller pieces.  Add spinach and beans to pot and bring to gentle boil.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Combine remaining 1 T oil, Parmesan cheese, basil, and pine nuts in chopper or food processor until pesto is combined.  Stir chicken and pesto into pot.  Season with pepper and serve when chicken is hot.

 

 

The original recipe can be found here.  My version has more vegetables, less broth bouillon, and the addition of pine nuts.  (somehow pesto is not pesto without pine nuts!).  Yummmmm!