My Girl, Paula: Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

This week's theme for My Girl Paula is a soup recipe. I looked on line until I found one more on the healthier side. I started back on Weight Watchers today and did not want a fattening soup. In fact, my daughter and I started blogging about our weight loss. My blog can be found here.

This soup was really yummy. I did have to add spices to it to suit my taste. I omitted the oil. I'm not big on zucchini so I substituted frozen green beans and some celery.

The grated parmesan cheese on top was the clincher. It was low in calories. I divided it into 5 servings and it was only 4 WW points (without the cheese).

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil (I omitted)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (1 3/4 lb) I used 3 breasts - 1.5 lbs

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup sliced carrots (about 3 small)

2 1/2 cups sliced zucchini (about 2 medium) I omitted - added celery and frozen green beans

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

Grated Parmesan cheese, optional (I used low fat Kraft parmesan cheese)

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion and carrot, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in zucchini, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. I added the celery and green beans with the onion and carrot. I did not use the oil.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.

Top each serving with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Serves: 6-8

I divided into 5 servings of almost 2 cups each.

WW Points - with the 1.5 lbs chicken and no oil - 4 points per serving

4 tsp. of low fat Parmesan - 1 point.