Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup
It’s soup season all year around in my eyes… But this Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup hits extra hard on a cold winter day. The beans make the soup extra creamy and the white wine give so much depth to the flavors.
Another reason I love soup is because of the leftovers! Greg and I were able to enjoy it again for the lunch the next day.
Notes:
I used a Dutch oven, but you could use a crock pot if you wanted. For crock pot add all ingredients (except the kale) and cook on low for 8 hours. Mix the kale in the last 15-20 minutes.
To make this vegan, remove chicken from recipe and sub chicken broth for veggie broth.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 lb. chicken thighs
Salt/pepper to taste
3 large carrots, peeled and finely diced
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
1/2 medium white onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 - 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced + zested
2 cups of lacinato kale, chopped
Directions:
In a Dutch oven add avocado oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt/pepper, and brown each side for about 3 min, until nice crust forms. Remove the browned chicken from he dutch oven and set it to the side.
Add the carrots, celery and onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
Toss in the garlic + dried herbs and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
Pour in the white wine, increase the heat to medium-high and let it the white wine reduce for about 5 minutes. Make sure you deglaze the pan, scraping up brown bits from the chicken on the bottom of the pan.
Next, pour in the veggie broth and bay leaves, raise the heat and bring to a boil.
Add the beans, chicken and lemon, then cover the pot, reduce the heat and cook gently for 15 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pot and discard the bay leaves. Cut the chicken into bite-sided pieces.
Transfer half of the soup to a blender and blend until thick and smooth. Then return this pureed soup back to the pot. Or, you can run an immersion blender throughout half of the soup, but be sure to not blend it all – you want to retain some texture.
Add the kale to the soup and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the kale is tender but still bright green.
Add the chopped chicken back into the soup and taste for seasonings, adding more salt/pepper as needed.
