Chicken Vegetable Soup

When summer gives way to fall and the leaves begin to change something inside me craves a warm bowl of soup.

I'm typically not a soup fan, as I seem to favor the more solid foods, but this soup is one of my all time favorites. I especially love the green beans in it and tend to add a handful or two extra into the soup.

Ingredients:

1tbsp Olive Oil

1tbsp butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 1/2 handful whole green beans

1/3 cup mushroom, chopped

4 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock

3 cups water

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

(optionally you can use 1 can chicken, drained)

Directions:

Melt butter and oil in frying pan and saute onions and carrots until tender, add mushrooms and saute an additional 3 minutes.

Place water, chicken stock, parsley, chicken and green beans into slow cooker and turn on low. Add onions, mushrooms and carrots after they've been sauted. Cover and allow to simmer on low for at least 1 hour (I let mine simmer for 8 hours).

Optionally:

You can add potato, noodles, celery, peas or any other item to the soup. Just remember potato and noodle will soak up some of your broth so you may need to add more.

Also, if you don't have a slow cooker, prepare the onions, carrots and mushrooms in a soup pan and then add all the additional ingredients after the items are sauted until tender. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.