A Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup

Evidence of the existence of soup can be found as far back as about 6,000 BC. Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers (which probably came in the form of clay vessels). Animal hides and watertight baskets of bark or reeds were used before this. To boil the water hot rocks were used. This method was also used to cook acorns and other plants.

The word soup comes from French soupe ("soup", "broth"), which comes through Vulgar Latin suppa ("bread soaked in broth") from a Germanic source, from which also comes the word "sop", a piece of bread used to soak up soup or a thick stew. The word restaurant (meaning "[something] restoring") was first used in France in the 16th century, to refer to a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors, that was advertised as an antidote to physical exhaustion. In 1765, a Parisian entrepreneur opened a shop specializing in such soups. This prompted the use of the modern word restaurant for the shops.

In the US, the first colonial cookbook was published by William Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1742, based on Eliza Smith's The Compleat Housewife; or Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion and it included several recipes for soups and bisques. A 1772 cookbook, The Frugal Housewife, contained an entire chapter on the topic. English cooking dominated early colonial cooking; but as new immigrants arrived from other countries, other national soups gained popularity. In particular, German immigrants living in Pennsylvania were famous for their potato soups. In 1794, Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, a refugee from the French Revolution, opened an eating establishment in Boston called The Restorator, and became known as "The Prince of Soups". The first American cooking pamphlet dedicated to soup recipes was written in 1882 by Emma Ewing: Soups and Soup Making.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
6 cup fat-free chicken broth
1 can (7.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. coarse, ground black pepper
3/4 cup uncooked small, whole-grain, bow-tie pasta
2 cup cooked chicken tenderloin, cut into chunks
1/4 cup low-fat Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, bay leaves and pepper.
3. Bring liquid to a boil. Stir in pasta, reduce heat and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
4. Stir in chicken and cook just until heated through. Serve with cheese and parsley sprinkled on top.