Chicken and Tortellini Soup

I'm always excited when I find a recipe that a) is easy to throw together in a few minutes with ingredients I have on hand, and b) my family will actually eat.

And I'm always happy to share them with you! So, here is what I made last night. It was raining, so I was in the mood for soup, but something different than the old stand-bys. And since it was getting late, I looked in my pantry and freezer for what I could throw together, and here is what I came up with. Everyone seemed to like it.

CHICKEN AND TORTELLINI SOUP

- diced onion: I didn't have an onion on hand, but I always have dried minced onion, which works just fine for something like this. Jay doesn't like onions, so I usually use the dried ones because he doesn't notice them, but we get the flavor.

- minced garlic: I love fresh garlic, so I always have it on hand. I used 3 cloves. Use whatever amount you like. If you don't have fresh garlic, use garlic powder.

- olive oil: just enough to saute the onion and garlic for a minute.

- chicken, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces: I had some leftover pre-cooked, sliced chicken with herbs in my freezer (about 1 cup) which was perfect. If I had used plain chicken, I would have added some italian herbs to the soup. Use more or less chicken depending on your preference.

- 1 can cream of chicken soup: I usually keep a can of this in my pantry, but if I hadn't had it I would have used some sour cream.

- approx. 4 c. water or chicken broth: I used water, and then threw in some chicken soup base.

- frozen chopped spinach: Trader's Joe's is really good. I used about half of a 1 lb. bag.

- cheese tortellini (dry): Again, TJ's is really good. I used about half of a 16 oz. bag.

- mushrooms, sliced: Fresh would have been best, of course, but I didn't have any. I usually have a small can of mushrooms in my pantry, which would have been about right, but I didn't have any yesterday. I did have some dried wild mushrooms in my cupboard though. I used about 1/3 c. dried mushrooms, rehydrated them in about 2/3 c. water, and threw the whole things in.

- parmesan cheese: I buy a huge hunk of this at Sam's Club, grate the whole thing in my food processor with the small grater attachment, and freeze it in small sandwich bags. I just pull a bag out of my freezer as needed. I use it on practically everything! I used about 1/3 cup for the soup.

- salt and pepper to taste

- Jay wanted it thicker, so I made a slurry of flour and milk, and stirred a little in, very gradually, until it looked right.

Serve with any good bread.