Italian Chicken & Vegetable Soup

I bumped into my next door neighbor this morning as I was loading up Colin for preschool. She was heading off to work and telling me how both she and her husband have some terrible flu and feel like death but are going to work anyway. About 11 Shelby called me from work saying he had a terrible headache and was feeling awful and wanted me to bring him his glasses. All this sickness made me think of one thing, SOUP! I love soup but Shelby is not a huge fan, so any excuse I can find to get away with making soup for dinner I take it and run. Surely he can't complain if I was making him a nice comfort food like soup since he was feeling a little under the weather. And how could he possibly be annoyed with my thoughtfulness to take dinner next door to the sickies who I'm sure do not want to cook for their family? Yep, sounds like two great excuses for soup!

I knew I wanted an Italian-ish chicken soup with pasta and tomatoes. Pinterest let me down and so did all my usual recipe sites. I finally consulted Google and still could't find just what I was looking for. Apparently I am all on my own here, doesn't anyone else ever crave a chicken noodle soup with an Italian kick and tomatoes? OK fine, plan B...create my own recipe. It's the perfect time, I have guinea pigs neighbors who can sample and tell me what they think. If it turns out horrible and they tell me so I will insist it was delicious, that my family loved it, and their sickness must be playing games with their taste buds! I can use the same trickery with Shelby too, I can't lose!

It actually did turn out amazing. It was just what I was craving and healthy too. So here is my recipe for my very own Italian Chicken & Vegetable Soup:
4 Tbs olive oil, divided
2 C cooked chicken breast, diced or shredded
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
12 oz small pasta (I used farfalle)
1 can green beans, undrained
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
3 cans chicken broth
2 Tbs parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs Italian seasoning mix
1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped

I got a late start so I cooked my chicken on the stove top. I did this by heating 2 Tbs olive oil in a pan and then adding the diced chicken. I sprinkled a touch of garlic salt and some Nature's Seasoning on it, the covered and let it cook.

In large stockpot, saute garlic in 2 Tbs olive oil for 1 minute over medium heat. Add in carrots, onions, and celery and saute 5 minutes more. Add chicken broth, green beans, parsley, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to pot. Hand squeeze and break up tomatoes with fingers, and add remaining juice in can to the pot. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 10-12 minutes. Add pasta to the pot and continue simmering 6-10 minutes, until pasta is aldente. Stir in basil and let soup stand 5 minutes.

I served it with provolone grilled cheese and both the boys were happy and stuffed. I have a few bowls of leftovers for the weekend too, score! I learned that making soup is messy (or maybe it's just me that's messy) and I should save soup experimentation for Wednesdays, because on Thursdays the cleaning lady comes. Aside from having to clean the kitchen the soup was a home run.

Cleaning lady