I mentioned before that soup is great because it can be made with basically anything from your pantry.  Well, this soup was supposed to be Minestrone but as I started gathering up all the ingredients, I realized that I was missing some key ingredients.  I had no spinach, no pasta and no navy beans.  So, as I rummaged around in the cupboard and freezer I grabbed some items and thought to myself, that I would make a mystery soup!

My inspiration for making a soup so close to the holidays is that everyone can grab a bowl and go.  So, even if I am out doing some last minute shopping or wrapping, there is soup in the fridge that can be warmed up and eaten quickly.  It also keeps the oven free for doing more baking 😉

I started out with basic soup ingredients: Onions, Carrots and Celery.  I added some spices, some canned tomatoes (red and yellow) and a couple of cans of kidney beans.  While I was looking for some protein to throw into the pot, I saw a package of ground chicken in the freezer and (no surprise here) bacon.  I figured I could render the bacon and use that to sauté the vegetables, brown up the chicken and voilà a new soup is born.

I topped the soup with some chopped basil and the crispy bacon. Have I mentioned how much I love bacon?

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Ingredients:

• 6 slices bacon – diced
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 onion – diced
• 2 carrots – sliced
• 2 celery stalks – diced
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• dash of salt & pepper
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 can diced tomatoes (red)
• 1 can whole tomatoes (yellow)
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 can red kidney beans (drained & rinsed)
• 1 can white kidney beans (drained & rinsed)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. In soup pot, cook bacon till crispy.
2. Brown ground chicken in frying pan. Set aside
3. Remove bacon from pan and keep fat in pot. Add in onion, carrots, celery, oregano, garlic, red chili flakes, salt & pepper.  Cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
4. Add tomatoes and crush with potato masher in pot.  Pour in the stock and thyme and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and add in kidney beans and ground chicken.  Simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the thyme and serve topped with chopped basil and crispy bacon.