Chicken Parmesan Soup

Chicken Parmesan Soup

My tastes are definitely changing.  Normally I feel like chicken and tomato doesn't really go together, like if you had chicken on pizza.  It's just not something I would choose to eat, but recently I tried this recipe at a Pampered Chef party and thought it was really good.  That day I made note that I thought it needed another can of diced tomatoes and some sliced zucchini to add some extra veggies plus just to have more stuff in the soup.

I think I've fully switched from previously liking only chicken breasts for recipes to now preferring boneless, skinless chicken thighs more.  They have more calories, but they're richer tasting.  

I also prefer petite diced tomatoes for recipes, the regular dice seems too big (doesn't really qualify as 'diced').

Inspiration

Pampered Chef Chicken Parmesan Soup

Some ingredients (not all of them,
and the tomato sauce doesn't even go in it!)

Hopefully this recipe turns out delicious, because I injured myself slicing the zucchini on my mandoline.  I bled for this dish! 

Ingredients

• 2 14oz cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 lb package boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cups chicken stock (frozen leftovers)
• 12 oz marinara (frozen leftover from Mediterranean Tuna Pasta) 
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced on a mandoline, then cut into smaller bite-sized pieces
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (from a jar)
• croutons for topping (we have a bag of croutons already open, otherwise I would have made my own using the Pampered Chef Garlic & Herb Rub as it describes in the recipe.  Plus it seems cool to make croutons in the microwave.)
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)
• shredded mozzarella for topping (optional)

Directions

I threw everything but the cheese and croutons together in my medium-size slow cooker in the morning before work.  When I got home, it smelled delicious.  I decided it didn't need mozzarella on top, but I did pull out the hunk of Parmesan and the bag of croutons.

Verdict

Husband Jeff liked it and Sonny D ate most of a bowl (he was mainly aiming for the chicken since he loves meat but I tricked him with a couple spoonfuls of only tomato and zucchini). 

I'm glad i tried this dish, I really liked it a lot.  It's a simple recipe that uses mainly pantry staple ingredients and it's healthy.   I feel most dishes could use more veggies and this is another one, maybe some wilted spinach.  And there was a lot of chicken and not much soupy-liquid, so a can of tomato sauce would be nice.  Also, some pasta would be a welcome addition for even more things going on.  I personally would add sliced mushrooms too, but that might be taking it too far from the chicken Parmesan concept and into a generic tomato-chicken soup. But even with those suggested changes, I think it's good as written and would definitely make it again.