Kale and White Bean Soup with White Meat

Hello, Springtime fans! Today, I am suffering the typical Spring head cold ... which means I am never far from the tissue box, have opened the tin of chamomile and red raspberry tea  (and left it open), and ... I made chicken soup. Now, I just made a batch  of chicken and red lentil soup last week, and I know Silent Bob is going to roll his eyes, but I just can't help it. When I'm sick, I crave chicken soup. I  bowed to SB's tender sensibilities and didn't make a terrifically spicy brew. It's just warm enough to get my sinuses clear and heat me from the inside out. I've already been leaning over a steamy bowl to breathe the fumes ... excellent therapy, indeed!

If I have energy later, I'll make a few flatbreads to dip when we eat the leftovers... Lord knows, I didn't waste a lot of energy on making the soup. I used two 16-oz. cans of cannelini beans, a pound of fresh kale, a baggy of roasted chicken breast meat that I froze after our last roasted chicken, and a jar of  frozen chicken broth that I supplemented with some Better than Bouillon instant chicken broth. That's it... kind of reminds me of some of the spare Chinese chicken soups that have just a few nice ingredients and... spices.

So... here's another easy chicken soup recipe ... because there can NEVER be too many chicken soup recipes!

Kale and White Bean Soup with White Meat - printer friendly

Kale and White Bean Soup … with White Meat

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh kale, washed, chopped into ribbons and spun out
2 – 16 oz. cans cannellini beans
2 c. cooked chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized morsels
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp. ground white pepper
8 c. chicken stock
salt, to taste

Making the Soup:

1. Heat a large fry pan and sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil for about one minute.

2. Add the kale and sauté it in the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes until bright green and slightly wilted.

3. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Heat 8 cups of stock in a soup pot, adding the bay leaf, the chicken meat and the drained and rinsed white beans. Heat thoroughly, but don’t boil the soup (it makes it foamy … yuck!)

5. Turn the kale into the hot soup and stir to incorporate the olive oily, garlicky, red peppery goodness. Be sure to get all the oil and spices from the fry pan.

6. Add the white pepper and taste for salt level… correct to your taste.

7. Heat the soup a bit longer, but not too long! Overcooked kale looks dreadful!

8. Serve the soup in shallow bowls, sprinkled with a few more red pepper flakes, some grated Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and some flatbread or foccachio for dipping and slurping.