Week 42: 

RECIPE OF THE WEEK SHARED BY MEMBERSHIP MANAGER, KIM COURCHESNE FEATURES AN ITALIAN CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP (ADAPTED FROM WW.COM)

As the weather gets colder, my family craves warm brothy soups. We especially love tasting ingredients like lemon juice and thyme in our dishes. The fresh seasonings smell wonderful and always brighten the meal. This Italian soup is brimming with healthy veggies and tastes delightful. It is my family’s go-to on Winter afternoons.

For my soup, I enhance the original recipe (which is very forgiving) by adding another 6 cups of chicken broth. And I rarely use fat free chicken broth but I do use broth with 40% less sodium!

Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup

Adapted from WW.com

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 6 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups fat free chicken broth
• 6 cups uncooked cauliflower, chopped (and/or other chopped vegetables such as carrots, celery, green beans, broccoli)
• 6 cups cooked shredded or chopped chicken breast
• 6 medium plum tomatoes, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp black pepper

Instructions

1. In large pot, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium.
2. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to soften and mixture is fragrant, about 5 minutes.
3. Add broth and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
4. Add chopped vegetables. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until vegetables are almost tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Add chicken, tomatoes, and thyme and simmer until vegetables are tender and chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes.
6. Stir in lemon juice and remaining 1 tbsp oil and season with black pepper.

Notes

To bulk it up, you can toss in any cooked grain you have on hand, such as rice, farro, barley or quinoa, which will also add some nice texture and chew to each bite.
You can use leftover chicken you have or a rotisserie chicken—one deli chicken generally yields about 3 cups total of white and dark meat.