Quick Italian Chicken Soup

Hello friends!  It's warm here in South Carolina.  It seems winter has come and gone.  The highs this week have been in the 70's.  I'm not complaining, but the hubs is.  He loves cold weather and these 70-degree days are a damper.  I know it's warm and soup is hardly the food you want when its warm out, but I made this soup a couple of weeks ago when it was actually cold out.  It's just taken me a while to give you the recipe...apologies!

I put this soup together on a whim, with just the ingredients in my pantry/fridge.  It was absolutely delicious and quick and easy to make.  The only laborious part would be peeling the carrots and chopping them up as well as chopping the zucchini and celery.  I used a store-bought roasted chicken from Whole Foods, and shredded it up.  So no boiling chicken here.

Enjoy this easy-peasy Italian chicken soup!

Italian Chicken Soup:

• 1 cooked roast chicken-shredded
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled & minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I used the store-bought pre-chopped onions)
• 1 medium zucchini, quartered
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1-14.5 oz can of salt-free diced tomatoes
• 4 cups of salt-free chicken stock/broth
• 1 Tbsp basil
• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• Salt & Pepper to taste

1. In a large pot, saute onions, celery, carrots, and zucchini until tender (about 5 min).  Add garlic cloves, sauté for another minute.  Add chicken stock/broth, diced tomatoes with its juices, basil, Italian seasoning.  
2. Bring to a simmer and add shredded chicken.  Let cook for about 20-30 minutes.  
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top when serving!

Recipe: Life of a Modern Housewife