Ingredients
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 medium zucchini
1 small to medium red bell pepper, seeded
1 medium yellow skinned onion, peeled and halved
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence, available on spice aisle or, 1 teaspoon each dried sage, rosemary and thyme
1 1/2 pounds small red skinned potatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1 (can diced tomatoes (14 ounces) or coarsely ground tomatoes
1 quart plus 1 cup chicken stock, available in quart and 1 cup paper box containers on the soup aisle
1 pound chicken tenders, diced
1 small jar black olive tapenade (4 ounces) found with Italian foods or on condiment aisle
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Crusty bread, to pass at table
Directions
Pre-heat one medium soup pot over medium high heat. While soup pot heats, chop carrots into 1/4-inch dice, then add garlic, and stir to coat in EVOO. Chop the zucchini, pepper and onion into 1/2 inch dice and drop into the pot. Season all the veggies with salt and pepper and herbes de Provence. Cook the veggies together for five minutes. While they cook, cut potatoes into thin wedges. Add wine to vegetables and reduce a minute or so. Add the tomatoes, cut potatoes and stock to the pot, cover the pot and raise heat to high. Bring the stoup to a boil, then add cut chicken and simmer 8-10 minutes until potatoes are just tender and chicken is cooked through. Serve stoup in shallow bowls and stir in a rounded spoonful of black olive tapenade at the table. Top soup with chopped parsley and pass crusty bread at the table for dipping and mopping.