Chicken and Potato Florentine Soup

This is a copy cat recipe from Olive Garden's version of this soup. My version is very tasty and makes a HUGE pot of soup. Sometimes I leave out the cream cheese and mozzarella for a more traditional broth instead of a creamy one, which is also lower in calories. Either way you make it, it's yummy!

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
32 oz. fat free low sodium chicken broth
1 t black pepper
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 t garlic powder
1 T minced onion
2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
2 28 oz. cans water
2 15 oz. cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
10 oz. shredded carrots
6 medium sliced Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
1/2 t black pepper
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 T minced onion
1 t paprika
5 oz. fresh spinach, chopped
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
8 oz. part skim mozzarella, grated

Directions:

In a large stock pot, add the chicken broth, 1 t black pepper, 1 t oregano, 1 t basil, 1 t garlic powder, 1 T minced onion, and the whole chicken breasts. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer until the chicken breasts are cooked through.

Remove the chicken breasts and set aside to cool for a couple of minutes. Strain the solids from the broth, and then put the broth back in the stock pot.

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add back into the pot.

Add the crushed tomatoes, water, drained beans, carrots, potato slices, pepper, oregano, basil, minced onion and paprika to the pot. Simmer for 60 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Add the fresh, chopped spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.

Add the cream cheese and mozzarella to the pot and stir frequently until melted to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. (You can leave the cheeses out of the soup and still tastes fantastic.)

Recipe modified from Food.com