Mouthful of Spice Chicken Vegetable Soup

I usually make a nice Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe that I got from Taste of Home, but this particular night, I wanted something a little different. I had a couple containers of arugula in my refrigerator and wanted to see if I could use that in the soup recipe.....I did! This soup really is quite spicy, but I am approximating on all the spice and vegetable amounts. Please feel free to alter the spices and veggie content to your liking. As I have it right now, there remains a nice heat in my mouth after a couple bites but not so much so that I am feeling a need for bread or milk. ;) Note--you can definitely leave the chicken out to have just a vegetarian soup; the vegetables are the main appearance here, not the chicken! You could also very easily add tofu cubes to the soup instead of the chicken. If you try this, I do hope you enjoy it and find it as simple as I did to make.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2  cups carrots, chopped
• 1⁄2-3⁄4 cup celery, chopped
• 1  tablespoon  minced onion
• 2  teaspoons  minced garlic
• 1  teaspoon chili powder
• 3⁄4 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1  bay leaf
• 42  ounces  fat-free low-sodium chicken broth (three 14-oz cans)
• 1  large tomatoes
• 1⁄2 small onion
• 10  ounces  rotel original diced tomatoes
• 10  ounces  rotel  diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro
• 12 1⁄2 ounces  98% fat free chicken breasts, chopped (you can use canned, but I would recommend emptying chicken into strainer first and rinsing thoroughl)
• 3⁄4 cup frozen corn (again, if you use canned, please rinse well to get rid of that sodium!)
• 2 1⁄2 ounces  fresh arugula

Directions

1. In medium saucepan, pour one can of chicken broth, carrots, celery, minced onion, garlic, Rotel lime and cilantro diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, lemon pepper and bay leaf.
2. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
3. Meanwhile, slice the tomato and onion into quarters.
4. Broil the tomato and onion for five minutes (sprayed with nonstick spray or rubbed with 1/2 teaspoons oil, whichever you prefer) or until tender; puree the tomato and onion with the other can of Rotel tomatoes.
5. When carrots are tender, add the 2nd can of chicken broth, the pureed tomato mixture, chicken, corn, and arugula.
6. Let the soup mixture simmer for another 20 minutes, then enjoy!