White Bean, Chicken, Tomato & Kale Soup

If you are looking for a really healthy soup to warm you up, this one is great!!! I'm on day 4 of my Advocare 10 herbal cleanse, that means I have to eat as much "clean" food as possible. That means no sweets, only lean meats, lots of veggies and fruits, healthy whole grains and lots of water! So to keep to all that I wanted to make a soup that was full of veggies and would fill me up.

I used my homemade broth as the base but you could certainly use store bought, I've got my homemade broth recipe for you at the bottom. The only thing I would have done differently (which I adjusted for here) is to have chopped the kale up a bit more because the soup doesn't cook very long the kale doesn't have a lot of time to break down and become super tender... smaller chop will do the trick. 

White Bean, Chicken, Tomato & Kale Soup

1 bunch of kale, chopped into small pieces
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1- 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (see below)
6 cups broth
salt and pepper

I started out by popping 3 chicken breasts, a tsp of peppercorns, a bay leaf and a quart of broth into the slow cooker and letting it go on low for 2.5 hours. Once it was done I shredded the chicken using two forks then popped the chicken right back into the broth. I made this for several different meals so you only use a portion here.
*I'll be posting a salsa chicken recipe tomorrow, again utilizing this chicken*

Into a large pot, over medium heat, add a few drizzles of olive oil, the garlic and kale. Cook for about 10 minutes until the kale is softened and slightly wilted.

Stir in the tomatoes including the juice and the beans. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to start melding.



Stir in the broth and allow to simmer on low for 30 minutes. Add the shredded chicken in and allow to simmer just a few more minutes to allow the chicken to absorb the  wonderful flavors.



*****

If you'd like to make your own broth heres how.... I make this big batch then freeze in smaller portions. 

For the broth: 

1 gallon water (16 cups)

8 cloves garlic, smashed

1 onion, quartered

6 celery stalks, cut in half or thirds

6 large carrots, cut in thirds plus 2 large carrots peeled

1 bay leaf

3 heaping Tbsp tomato paste

salt and pepper

Get the broth going first. In a large pot, over medium low heat, add the water, garlic, carrots (the 6 cut ones only), onion, celery, bay leaf, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Now for the 2 peeled carrots, cut them into large pieces and pop them into a food processor. Pulse until very finely minced, add them to the pot. Simmer for 1 1/2- 2 hours. 

HAPPY EATS!!!

*this is my original recipe*