A Soupy Day

Yesterday it was cloudy and a bit rainy all day. I woke up in a cooking / baking sort of mood. I made pancakes, coffee and ham for breakfast. Creamy Chicken Soup and a crusty french bread (scratch scratch, no help from the breadmaker) for lunch, Low-Fat Creamy Pasta for dinner, and made up a recipe for a pear bundt cake (inspired by my friend Jess) for dessert. After posting about our lunch, I decided to share the recipe for Creamy Chicken Soup with you.

Ingredients

1-2 cups cooked small bowtie (or other small) pasta
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon fresh (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried) chopped rosemary
2 Tablespoons Prepared Pesto
Dash Salt and Pepper
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
1 bag baby spinach (or half a bag frozen chopped spinach)
1 small jar (or half large jar) roasted red bell peppers
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Chicken Breasts (cubed)
1/2 cup white wine
1 jar reduced fat alfredo sauce
3 cans (or one box) reduced sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Saute spinach, peppers, rosemary, pesto, salt, pepper and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil until spinach is withered. Put in bowl and cover.
3. Cook chicken breasts in 1 tablespoon olive oil until done. Pour white wine into pan and scrape off bits.
4. Add to pan broth, alfredo sauce, and spinach mixture. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes and add pasta. Cook 5 minutes more, until heated through.
5. Garnish with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

*Note: the pasta will swell the longer it sits in the delicious soup. I use smaller pasta to keep it from soaking up too much soup.
**This recipe is adapted from one given to me by the amazing Jessica Hekman years ago. It is Danny's FAVORITE still to this day. Thanks Jess!