Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup

This is a hearty, EASY, soup that we will be making again and again. I was surprised at how good it was and best of all I had all the ingredients in the house already!

Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 T. olive oil
2 14.5 oz can of Italian Tomatoes (with garlic, basil, and oregano)
4 cups chicken broth
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 small onion diced fine
3 small carrots, I sliced them into coins
2 lg stalks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 t. Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over med-high heat. Cook chicken for about 10 minutes or until it's no longer pink inside. Add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until onions begin to look translucent. Add zucchini, tomatoes, chicken broth and Italian seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste. I used about 1 t. salt and probably 1/2 t pepper.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Garnish with shredded Parmesan cheese.

*I cooked some whole grain rotini pasta to add for those people that wanted pasta.

Nutrition Information:
Calories 175.87; Total Fat 4.68g; Total Carbohydrates 7.49g; Fiber 2.06g; Protein 24.98g

Seriously, it was SO.GOOD.

SALSA baby!!

My tomatoes are starting to produce more than I can eat by myself. How did I land in this family of non tomato lovers? They like it on a sandwich or burger but that is about it. Unless...it is made into salsa.

A few years ago I really got into the canning thing and bottled about 120 pints of salsa. We blew through that in a winter and I kind of got sidetracked with fresh salsa so I haven't bottled any but with the tomatoes I picked the other day I thought I would break out the bottles and do a few.

Sadly, once I start canning I sort of let it consume me. I have bottled pears that my fam won't eat that I am thinking I can make into jam...but that's a post for another day.

This is the recipe that I used for this iteration of salsa. It's always a little different because I am the world's worst measurer but this is a good starting point. Looking at this I think the next time I will add some lime juice...

Salsa
10 quarts of tomatoes, skinned and chopped
6 c. onions chopped
4 cans (small) diced green chilies
1 large green pepper chopped
1 1/2 c. jalapeno peppers chopped fine (I usually leave most of the ribs and seeds)
1/2 c. vinegar
1/4 c. sugar (you may need more depending on how ripe your tomatoes are)
4 T. salt
4 t. oregano
4 t. cumin
1 large handful cilantro chopped (a couple T if using dried)
5-6 cloves garlic (sometimes I leave this out if I don't have fresh)
1/2 c. oil
12 oz. tomato paste
1 t. crushed red pepper
Tabasco (to fine tune the heat at the end if needed)

Blanch the tomatoes and slip the skins. Seed if desired. I run mine through the blender quickly because my family doesn't do chunks very well. Mix all together and simmer until desired consistency (1 1/2-2 hours). Fill jars and adjust lids. Process in water bath for 45 min or in a pressure cooker on 15 lbs for 10 minutes.


8-29-09 Update:
5 blenders full of tomatoes
6 c. onion
4 cans green chiles
4 small jalepenos-leave 2/3 of ribs and seeds
2 med Anaheim peppers
2 lg green peppers
1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
4 T. salt
4 t. oregano
5 t. cumin
cilantro
4 heaping t. garlic powder
12 oz tomato paste
Has a really good flavor, is more hot than the recipe above. Randy liked it better...

10-2-10 Update
5 1/2  blenders full of tomatoes (1/2 bushel)
6 1/2 c. onion
4 cans green chiles
8 small jalepenos-leave ribs and seeds
2 med Anaheim peppers
4 Serano Peppers w/ribs and seeds
2 lg green peppers
1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. lime juice
4 T. salt
4 t. oregano
5 t. cumin
1 bunch cilantro chopped
 2 t. red pepper flakes
4 heaping t. garlic powder
12 oz tomato paste

Yum. :)