Chicken & Veg soup

I'm on a soup kick if you hadn't noticed. I also adore veggie soups, the veggies add so much flavor to the chicken broth.

I find this to be a very filling soup and also can be assembled quickly. One of the changes in timing is the chicken. If you have left over, rotisserie, chicken in smaller bits... it shortens the time. I generally start with a frozen chicken breast, so that increases my cooking time.

Spices can be easily adjusted. I use 1 heaping tsp poultry seasoning and a bay leaf, as well as salt & pepper, but you can be specific with the thyme or rosemary too, I just don't...Sometimes I add in a tsp of oregano too.

Green beans, zucchini, broccoli, celery, carrots, cut them up!

 Cut veggies. Heat oil in a large pot. When hot add in carrots, celery, and kale stems. Let them soften for a few minutes. Add spices and chicken now.

 Add broth, green beans, zucchini, broccoli and cook for about 5 minutes.

 Add beans and kale when everything is cooked. These ingredients just need to heat through. The zucchini could be added in here if you want too.

Serve over pasta, rice, or as is!

Kale, Canneleni Beans, and Sausage soup

Kale season!!! This is a pretty fast soup, can probably be made and cooked in a half hour. I went a little overkill on the kale because I think it is so tasty, but adjust according to your preferences. Kale will wilt, but not as much as spinach. You can also use less broth and serve it as almost a sauce over pasta too.

I like Italian sausage because it has all the seasonings in it. I add extra black pepper and garlic, but that is just my preference.
 
Kale, Cannellini Beans, and Sausage soup
makes 3-4 servings

1/2 cup onions, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper
5 -8 kale leaves
6 cups chicken broth, I do a big can and do 1/2 that can filled with water
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 hot Italian sausage, out of casings

Prep kale
Hold kale leaf by the stem, the leaf part pointing down to the cutting board. Use knife and slide it along the stem, separating the leaf off the stem. Cut kale to bite sized pieces. The stems are edible, but tougher and need extra time to cook.

Make soup

Saute onions, garlic powder, kale stems, carrots, and celery. Once starting to get soft add in sausage, kale, and broth. Let cook at a rolling boil until sausage is cooked through and kale is tender.

Serve over pasta if you'd like.

Tuscan Bean Soup

I love hearty soups for lunch and dinner! I've seen variations of this Tuscan Bean Soup, so I decided to improvise and use many of the flavors that I had already in the kitchen.  Spicy, warm, and hearty, I serve this soup with some pasta.
When you use kale you normally don't include the stems, I chopped the stems up rather small and put them in the pot with the celery and onion to give it extra time to cook. I also didn't have enough kale so I added in some collard greens.

The soup gets most of its flavor from the sausage but I wanted to add a little more flavor with the oregano and red pepper flakes.Using chicken sausage is a leaner option and the soup doesn't get a greasy texture either but maintains all the flavor.

For extra protein I added the chicken breast in addition to the chicken sausage and the can of beans.

Enjoy!


Tuscan Bean Soup
Approx 6 servings

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
3 stalks of Celery (diced)
1/4 lg Sweet Onion (diced)
Kale stems (diced)
1 chicken breast (chopped small)
2 hot Italian chicken sausages (out of the casings)
1 tbs Tomato paste (optional)
to taste salt and pepper
6 cups Chicken stock
1 can Cannellini beans
1 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 tsp oregano (optional)
8-10 pieces Red Leaf Kale (chopped up)
4 pieces Collard Greens (chopped up)

Directions
Heat some olive oil in a large pot, saute the celery, onion, and stems until onion is translucent.
Add chicken breast and sausage. Break up sausage as it cooks.
Once meat is cooked add in tomato paste and enough broth to just cover the mix. Stir until paste dissolves.
Taste. Add a little salt (sausage has a lot of salt in it already), and fresh cracked pepper.
Add in rest of chicken stock and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Add in beans.
Taste. Add in red pepper flakes, oregano, more s & p as needed.
Wilt the greens into the soup, about 10 min.
Depending on the levels of broth at this point I added in an extra 2 cups of water.


Serve over pasta or rice (Optional).