A Big Pot of CSA Parsley-Vegetable Chicken Soup

I ordered 2 big beautiful bunches of Italian flat leaf parsley to be included in my CSA farm box this time and used a whole one in this pot of soup. The broth turned an ominous green. Looked like Pond Scum Soup, so I hit it with my immersion blender. It wasn't until I later added a can of tomatoes and 12 oz. of the Alfredo that it started looking edible!

This was such a fun recipe though. The carrots, potatoes, green pepper, zucchini and onion (everything in the pan except the cabbage) were also in my CSA box.

Start by slicing and sauteeing 8oz. of mushrooms into a big frying pan with EVOO covering the bottom for several minutes. Add 1/2 a big celery heart - chopped,  about 8 or 10 small sliced carrots, a medium chopped green pepper.

Stir and saute that while you dice the potatoes, 1/4 of a big head of cabbage and slice a medium zucchini. Add those to the pan.

Once that's all in the pan, rough chop or scissor cut the parsley into a 5 quart pot containing 2-3 quarts of chicken bone broth. Add 2 big spoonfuls of Chicken Better Than Bouillon and other seasonings. (today I used 1-2 oz. of the really potent EVOO-garlic-sun-dried-tomato paste I made recently and a couple teaspoons of my rosemary seasoning.)

Blend with your immersion blender, getting it as smooth as possible, which won't be very smooth. Simmer this green broth about 15 minutes to soften the parsley. Blend again - it will be much easier to incorporate everything and smooth it out now.

Add all the vegetables, a can of petite diced tomatoes and 8 oz. roasted chicken. Stir, and simmer until the carrots are the way you like. Cool slightly and add about 12 oz. of Alfredo sauce, stir well and heat again. When steamy, ladle into bowls and serve. 

Other than a 'loaded' grilled cheese sandwich, on sourdough bread I made for lunch recently, with a side salad of avocado, tomato and cucumber, this was the best thing I've eaten in ages.

For me, soup is a year-'round thing, but for those of you just getting into the swing of it now. . .Happy Soup Season! 😃 Mmmm!!! . .Lin