Vegetable Chicken Bean Soup

This is a fun fall soup for this time of year. It would work well for lunch or dinner. The neat thing about making your own soup is you know exactly what's in it, it tastes fresher, and you cut way down on the sodium. Yes! Another bonus with this soup is it's low calorie. =)

6 T Olive oil
2 Onions, chopped finely
2-3 Garlic cloves, crushed
1/2-1 red chili, deseeded and chopped very finely (optional)
2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
5 Celery stalks, chopped finely
2 C Carrots, grated coarsely
9 C Chicken stock (or see my * note below)
2 Bay leaves
2 tsp Dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 14 0z Cans White Northern Beans
5 Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1 Can Tomato paste
Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro to garnish
Corn or wheat tortillas to serve
Grated cheese (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Then add onions garlic, and chili cook until just soft.

2.* Instead of using chicken broth, I put 9 cups of water into a pot. Put the uncooked chicken in there to boil for about 15 minutes. Then I added 1 T salt and 1 tsp pepper.

3. Then take chicken out of the water cut up into small pieces. Put the chicken into the frying pan with garlic and onion and chili. Cook the chicken till lightly browned.

4. Add the celery, carrots, Bay leaves, oregano, and cinnamon into pot with broth. Then add chicken, garlic, and onion. Simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Then add beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Simmer covered for 15-20 more minutes. Take out the bay leaves. Then taste and add extra seasoning as needed.

5. Serve hot. Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley and grated cheese optional. Serve with warm tortillas or Tortilla Chips . =) Enjoy!