Chicken Zucchini Soup

 Ingredients

• 2 ½ pounds bone-in, skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 (15 ounce) cans mixed beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 ½ cups chopped yellow onions (from 1 onion)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped (about 4 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander (optional)
• 3 ¼ cups unsalted chicken stock
• 1 ½ cups chopped zucchini (from 1 zucchini)
• 1 qt stewed tomatoes, undrained
• ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes
• Fresh cilantro or parsley sprigs 

Directions

1. sprinkle the chicken with the pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add the chicken to the skillet, and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
   
2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet over medium-high; add the beans, onions, garlic, parsley and coriander. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown, about 4 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the stock to the skillet, and cook 1 minute, stirring and scraping to loosen the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
   
3. Stir the zucchini, diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and remaining 3 cups stock into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW until the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender, about 2 hours.
   
4. Remove the chicken and let cool. When the chicken is cool enough to handle (about 20 minutes), remove and discard the bones. Cut or shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces; stir the chicken and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls.