Chicken, Bean & Kale Soup

It's a meal in a bowl, especially with homemade bread

Chicken, Bean & Kale Soup*
(8 to 10 servings)

Ingredients:

3 quarts (12 cups) homemade** or store-bought chicken broth

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 to 4 carrots, peeled and diced

3 to 4 stalks celery, diced

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

2 cups kale, washed, chopped and loosely packed

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped (or cilantro, if you prefer)

2-3 cloves minced garlic

1 to 2 cups cooked Royal Corona, cassoulet or cannellini beans***

Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, or 2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan

2 to 3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried, or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried basil, or 2 tablespoons fresh leaves, chopped

Other spices to taste (I like Penzey’s Italian Herb Mix)

1/2 cup white wine (optional)

1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chicken breast meat, chopped or shredded

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over a medium heat, add half the oil and fry chopped onions, celery, carrots and potatoes until softened and golden but not cooked through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add to a stockpot, along with the chicken broth and bay leaf. Warm over a medium flame until simmering, then lower heat.

2. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and cook kale until lightly wilted on medium heat. Add parsley and garlic, cooking for another minute or two. Add to the stock pot along with the cooked beans and Parmesan rinds, if using.

3. Add salt, pepper, thyme, basil, additional spices and wine, if using. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the flavors are well combined.

4. Add cooked chicken right before serving.

5. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and serve with some crusty bread.

Some possible variations:

1. Skip the potato and add about a half-cup of dried pasta a few minutes before serving.

2. Substitute chopped, fried chicken, turkey or pork sausage for the chicken (or add both!).

3. Add chopped fennel and/or a chopped leek. Substitute chopped spinach for the kale.

4. To make the soup vegetarian, use vegetable broth, plus the rich bean broth that comes from cooking the dried beans. (If you use canned beans, taste the drained liquid to make sure it’s not too salty and you like the taste. Then add some of it if you like.)

Notes:

*This recipe was originally part of another post I wrote in 2015 about Rancho Gordo and my great passion for Royal Corona beans. Check out the original here.

**In the version above, I made a flavorful chicken stock from the frozen remains of two leftover roast chickens, plus leftover gravy and two uncooked chicken backs. I mixed the chicken parts and bones with coarsely chopped onions, carrots, celery and spices that I simmered for about 1 1/2 hours, then strained. I added several cups of low-sodium chicken broth when the liquid turned out not to be quite enough. If you make the stock ahead of time, a little fridge time will allow you to skim the fat off the top before making the soup. You can (and I usually do) add a cup or two of the bean broth to this soup, assuming you used dried beans.

Another way I make chicken broth is more classic: Simmer a whole chicken for 2-3 hours with onions, celery, carrots, a bay leaf, garlic and/or any aromatics and spices you wish. I like to amp up the flavor by adding some chicken bouillon paste or powder. My favorite lately is Penzey’s Chicken Soup Base.

***Directions for dried beans usually include soaking them for a few hours or overnight, then draining them and boiling until done. There are fast-soak methods that call for boiling dried beans for a few minutes, then letting them soak for an hour or so before cooking. Of course, you can also cook them much quicker in a pressure cooker (here’s a link to info on that), but I’ve found that it’s hard to gauge when they’re done. Mine usually end up being too hard or too soft.

If you use beans you know are very fresh, such as ones from Rancho Gordo, you can probably get away with not soaking at all and just cooking a bit longer. Canned beans are convenient when you’re pressed for time, though I much prefer the texture and taste of beans cooked from dried. I usually follow the Rancho Gordo preferred recipe for cooking beans. Here a link to that.

For the bean counters among you, 1 cup of dry beans is the equivalent of about three cups cooked, while a drained 15-ounce can of beans yields about 1 3/4 cups. For more bean equivalencies, click here.