New Year's Day Soup

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced smoked ham
• 1 cup cubed chicken breast, cooked in
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups celery ribs, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 (15 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained

• 1 (15 ounce) can sweet whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth

• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, undrained

• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. 1

   Cook the chicken until no longer pink in the olive oil in a heavy stock pot.

2. 2

   Add ham, celery, onion, garlic, bell pepper, and carrots. sauté over medium heat until the vegetables are tender.

3. 3

   Stir in the black eye peas, corn, chicken broth, stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

4. 4

   Stir in 1 1/2 cups of spinach, the zucchini, and the parsley. Add the pepper and simmer for 20 minutes more or until the zucchini is tender.

5. 5

   Garnish with more chopped fresh spinach, if desired.