Kale and Chickpea Soup

Ugh, so I just got hit with bad allergies today. I mean I woke up with a stuffy nose, sneezed all day and all I wanted was a nice bowl of hot soup. I know it's getting really warm outside but this soup made me feel so much better!! I went to the grocery store and bought ingredients that were hearty, flavorful and packed with nutrients. Here's the recipe:

Kale and Chickpea Soup

Ingredients

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 whole sweet onion, peeled and diced

3 stalks celery, diced

½ bunch fresh kale, washed, rinsed and chopped

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

 1 TBSP Vegetable oil

32 oz. chicken broth/stock**

2 cups water

Salt, pepper, cumin, nutmeg, dried oregano, dried thyme, red pepper flakes  (TO TASTE)

1 TBSP. minced garlic

Shredded chicken, optional

Directions

1.)Wash and dry the celery, carrots and kale.

2.) Dice the celery, carrots, kale and onion.

3.) Add vegetable oil to a stock pot over medium heat. Add in the carrots, onion and celery to the stock pot. This mixture of vegetables is called a “Mirepoix” (Meer-uh-pwah)

4.) Saute these vegetables for about 10 minutes and then add in the kale. Mix the kale and mirepoix and put a lid on top. Saute until kale has reduced down to 1/3 the size you started with.

5.) After the kale has reduced down, open and rinse the can of chickpeas and add in. Saute for 1-2 minutes.

6.) Pour in an entire 32oz. box of chicken broth/stock followed by 2 cups of water.

7.) Add in the spices to your taste and simmer the soup for 15 minutes. I don’t like my vegetables to become mushy so I only let them cook for a little while. Add in the shredded chicken if you have some, just warm it through for a few minutes. 

Eat immediately!! Makes great leftovers. Please enjoy and thank you for reading!!

***Cook’s Note: If your grocery store has it, buy the reduced sodium chicken broth/stock. If you have any sort of head cold or allergies, your taste buds may be off, so please do not go overboard with the salt. 

Image pulled from http://blogs.courier-journal.com/recipes/tag/soups/ (I searched this on Google because I am still without a camera.)