Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Easy Chicken and Kale Soup

With wedding and swimsuit seasons coming up, I've been trying to eat healthier and exercise more. I find making a big pot of healthy soup a great way to stay on the healthy path.

Over Easter weekend we went to Natchez, Mississippi for the Spring Pilgrimage. It was amazing! I loved touring the antebellum homes and antique shopping.



And of course I enjoyed plenty of good food, like the tamales at Fat Mama's.


(Hands down the BEST tamales I've ever eaten).

So when we returned home I knew I needed to get back on track. I decided to make a Chicken and Kale soup.

I started by cooking 3 large chicken breasts in my crock pot. I find this the easiest method to get juicy chicken that shreds perfectly. I just seasoned the chicken with salt, red pepper, garlic and onion powder and added a splash of water. I cooked the chicken on high for 4 hours.

When I got home from work, I sauteed an onion and some sliced carrots in a little olive oil. I seasoned the veggies with salt and pepper. After the veggies cooked for a few minutes, I added 3 cloves of minced garlic.

Once the veggies were tender, I added 2 boxes (about 10 cups) of chicken stock, the shredded chicken and my secret ingredient - a Parmesan cheese rind. I try to save cheese rinds for soups because they had a nice depth of flavor and saltiness to the soup.

I let the soup simmer for 30 mins while I worked out. (Multi-tasking!) Then I added about 2 cups of fresh cheese tortellini and let them cook for 2 minutes. Finally, I stirred in 2 cups of kale and turned off the heat. I tasted for seasoning and added a little more salt and pepper. 

The soup is delicious! It has about 7-8 servings with about 295 calories per serving.



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