Italian Herb Chicken Soup....with Parmesan chunks!

This.soup.is.DEEEEEE-LISH!!! Succulent shredded chicken accompanied by a harvest of fresh carrots, onion, zucchini, oregano, basil, and garlic. HELLO.

2+ quarts chicken stock
1lb skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small onions, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
2 medium zucchinis, halved and sliced
1/4 c fresh oregano , chopped (basically one entire package of the live herbs)
2T fresh basil, chopped
Parmesan chunks

In a medium pot or saucepan, bring 1 quart of chicken stock to a boil and add all the chicken. Let this cook for a good 30 minutes to make it easy to shred.

In a large soup pot, heat 2T oil and then add onions and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, then add garlic and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes more. season with salt and pepper. Turn heat to low and add basil and oregano.

Remove chicken from broth and shred with two forks (or by hand if it's cool enough). Add the chicken and broth to the veggies and turn heat back up until soup is simmering. (Note: By this time, the liquid has most likely reduced significantly, so you will need to add more chicken stock according to your preference. I think I ended up adding another quart to the soup at this point.) Cook soup for ~30 minutes until veggies (particularly carrots) are cooked through.

Serve in individual bowls and top with a generous portion on Parmesan chunks. (To make chunks, simply use a knife to carve out walnut sized pieces of cheese). Top with a few more pieces of chopped basil if desired.

Three points about this soup.

1. Pleeeeeease use fresh herbs for this recipe. The oregano in particular made the soup an aromatic delight.

2. The Parmesan cheese chunks are not optional. The chunks don't melt down completely so provide a delicious texture and salty note, while the part that does melt into the broth makes it almost seem slightly creamy...........YUMMMMMMM.

3. I am not a fan of chicken noodle soup- not at all. Thus, it is not an item I particularly miss in my wheat-freeness. Having said that, my husband adores chicken noodle soup so I make it our of love. THIS soup, however, fits the taste bud bill for both of us (yayyyy for no more chicken noodle!)

Hopefully I got this out before soup season passes! :)