Denise's Chicken Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 quarts low sodium chicken broth
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 8 carrots, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 lb mushroom, fresh, sliced
• 1 lb ditalini (i use barilla)

Recipe

• 1 pour chicken broth into a large pot. add about 3 quarts of water. place remaining ingredients in pot and bring to a boil. cook, covered, for 30-45 minutes, until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through. remove chicken from the broth and shred; return to pot. also remove any celery leaves or any pieces of veggies you don't want to keep in the soup (some like to remove all the onion; i prefer to keep it in). if desired, add some freshly chopped or dried parsley the last few minutes of cooking. some celery seed or celery salt is optional as well. if you've added too much water and the broth is too clear, add a chicken bouillon cube the last few minutes of cooking as well.
• 2 note: for a richer stock, try adding a 12 oz. lowfat turkey gravy to the soup right before serving; just heat through and stir; add this right before adding the pasta. this gives the soup a creamier consistency.
• 3 while soup is cooking, cook 1 8 oz. package of ditalini pasta. drain; pour a small amount of olive oil over the pasta to keep it from sticking together. store separately from soup.
• 4 when serving, reheat pasta and place in serving bowl. pour soup over. salt and pepper to taste; pass freshly grated parmesan cheese.