Skinny Soup

Okie dokie...the holidays were fun and all but it's time to stop the party already! In a desperate attempt to drop those party pounds I came up with this soup recipe. I shared it with a friend who stopped over the other day and she really liked it. I told another friend what I'd been eating for lunch and she wanted the recipe... I guess we're all thinking along the same lines. My recipe collection is getting a little out of control and I can't seem to locate them in a hurry, the blog is a pretty safe place to keep it...and to share it of course.


Skinny Soup

4# Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (or thighs for more calories)

3 large Yellow Onions, quartered and sliced

2 Red Bell Peppers, diced

4 stalks Celery, diced

4 tsp dried Rosemary, crushed

2 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Crushed Dried Red Pepper

1/2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Black Pepper

4 cups Chicken Stock or Broth

Steamed Broccoli, about 8 cups

Put the chicken in the bottom of a crock pot, cover with the onions, red bell pepper and celery. Grind the crushed red pepper in a mortar and pestle to break them up a bit, add the crushed red pepper and the rest of the herbs and spices to a food processer and grind them up a bit...then add to the crock pot, add the chicken broth - you want it to cover all of the ingredients - you may add more chicken broth or use water if you need to. Cook for 10 hours on low, or high for 4-5 hours, I plug it in when I go to bed and it's done in the morning. Remove the cooked chicken from the crock pot to cool, then shred or dice. I steam the broccoli after the soup is ready to go, then I put 1/2+ cup of the shredded chicken into individual containers, top with 1/2 to 1 cup of broccoli - then top it off with the veggie broth.

Label and pop into the fridge or freezer, this really helps me stay on track when I'm trying to think thin - half the battle of dieting is having healthy options ready to go. I've been having this for lunch, just pop it into the microwave and add some sliced green onion or cilantro...it's good and good for ya!