My Famous Kale Chicken Soup

Actually, I lie. It is really my grandmother’s soup but I changed/added a few things. What I didn’t change is the foundation:

Ingredients

• Chicken legs (4-6)
• Chopped garlic
• Chopped onion
• Olive oil

Why is chicken soup known to treat colds and often called natural penicillin?

Many reasons:

1. Real broth is made from bones, and animal bones are chock full of nutrients like argine and glucosamine that help reduce inflammation in your body.
2. chicken stock contains an amino acid called carnosine which reduces the inflammatory compounds responsible for most of your symptoms.
3. The gelatin in bones can calm your stomach.
4. Chicken contains cysteine, an amino acid which reduces and helps to expel mucous.
5. Garlic and onions–key ingredients in most stock—have microbial properties and can help your body fight sickness.
6. Simmering vegetables in broth is one of the best ways to prepare them—retains their valuable nutrients and trace minerals.

What about the skin?

I used to ask the butcher at Whole Foods to skin the chicken for me. Then I realized that chicken fat—if it’s from a pastured organic-fed hen— is good ole wholesome food, so now I leave it on.

Instructions:

1. Sauté the onions and garlic in a big pot on medium heat. Once they are soft, add in the chicken, and sear it. This locks in the juices (or so says my late grandmother, whose own mother made it in Vienna before the Nazis chased them out).
2. Fill up pot with water, but leave room (about two inches from top) for all the yummy veggies so that it doesn’t overflow.
3. While waiting for the water to heat up, chop vegetables.
   • Here’s what I add:
   • 4 big kale leaves. Tear up into roughly one-inch pieces. I do not use the stem.
   • 2 fistfuls of parsley
   • 2 fistfuls of cilantro
   • 2-3 large carrots
   • 2-3 celery stalks
   • 1 leek
   • ½ your thumb’s size of turmeric. Grate or shred it. Ginger is also good. Start with a little and adjust quantity next time.
4. As soon as the water starts to boil, add in a bouillon. I use 2 cubes of Rapunzel brand. Just check ingredients to make sure there is no crap, like hydrolyzed soy protein or lab chemicals.
5. Turn down the heat to simmer.
6. Add in the veggies you just chopped. I like to sprinkle fresh cilantro on at the end.
7. Take a nap.
8. Come back in 1/2 hour and stir.
9. Take out a smaller pot and heat up water for pasta. Or cook rice—black is best. Grain-free people can cube potatoes and toss them in before adding the veggies or bake them separately and then cut into small chunks and add to soup.
10. Pastas that are good for soup are mostly little ones, like elbows and orzo. Remember that gluten is not really fantastic for anyone, so try to find a low-glycemic substitute. Corn and rice will fatten you up–that’s why it’s fed to cows—but it’s okay to eat (corn/rice pasta) as a treat. Otherwise, there are now alternative pastas made of quinoa, amaranth, chick peas, coconut flour, and even black beans So try one of those! Or buy a pasta imported from Italy that uses Italian wheat, which is superior in quality.
11. Strain the pasta and leave in colander with pot lid on it to keep warm.
12. Take some kitchen scissors (if you don’t have any, buy some and you will never go back to knives), and cut into the chicken to see if it’s done. It should take about an hour. Then start slicing chicken bits off the bone so that you have chunks of it falling into the soup.
13. Ladle into bowls. Add pasta (sparingly) into each bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For even more flavor: sprinkle Osem soup croutons on top. They are tiny crunchy squares from Israel and are super delicious. I also add them to salads. No, they’re not healthy, but they’re not that unhealthy either.😝 A healthy choice? Pumpkin seeds or hemp hearts.

You will have the yummiest dinner ever, and your kids, who have never eaten kale, will not notice that it’s in there.😀

The version  below has button and shitake mushrooms, mint, and rosemary instead of kale, carrots, and celery.

Keep the leftovers in the pot and stick it in the fridge. It’ll taste even better next day because the chicken and veggies will soak up the amazing broth flavor. Don’t skim off the yellow fat which will float to the top and congeal when refrigerated. It’s real food, and fat helps your body absorb the nutrients in veggies. Store leftover pasta (or rice) in a separate container so that it doesn’t get mushy.

If your kid won’t eat this rich and hearty live-forever soup, lock him in a room with some eggplants and turnips for a couple of hours and then offer it again.😂

My Famous Kale Chicken Soup

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• Author: Nina Miller
• Yield: 8 servings
• Category: Soup, Main Dish

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Ingredients

• Chicken legs (4-6)
• Chopped garlic
• Chopped onion
• Olive oil
• 4 big kale leaves. Tear up into roughly one-inch pieces. I do not use the stem.
• 2 fistfuls of parsley
• 2 fistfuls of cilantro
• 2-3 large carrots
• 2-3 celery stalks
• 1 leek
• ½ your thumb’s size of turmeric. Grate or shred it. Ginger is also good. Start with a little and adjust quantity next time.

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Instructions

1. Sauté the onions and garlic in a big pot on medium heat. Once they are soft, add in the chicken, and sear it. This locks in the juices (or so says my late grandmother, whose own mother made it in Vienna before the Nazis chased them out).
2. Fill up pot with water, but leave room (about two inches from top) for all the yummy veggies so that it doesn’t overflow.
3. While waiting for the water to heat up, chop vegetables.
4. As soon as the water starts to boil, add in a bouillon. I use 2 cubes of Rapunzel brand. Just check ingredients to make sure there is no crap, like hydrolyzed soy protein or lab chemicals.
5. Turn down the heat to simmer.
6. Add in the veggies you just chopped. I like to sprinkle fresh cilantro on at the end.
7. Take a nap.
8. Come back in 1/2 hour and stir.
9. Take out a smaller pot and heat up water for pasta. Or cook rice—black is best. Grain-free people can cube potatoes and toss them in before adding the veggies or bake them separately and then cut into small chunks and add to soup.
10. Pastas that are good for soup are mostly little ones, like elbows and orzo. Remember that gluten is not really fantastic for anyone, so try to find a low-glycemic substitute. Corn and rice will fatten you up–that’s why it’s fed to cows—but it’s okay to eat (corn/rice pasta) as a treat. Otherwise, there are now alternative pastas made of quinoa, amaranth, chick peas, coconut flour, and even black beans So try one of those! Or buy a pasta imported from Italy that uses Italian wheat, which is superior in quality.
11. Strain the pasta and leave in colander with pot lid on it to keep warm.
12. Take some kitchen scissors (if you don’t have any, buy some and you will never go back to knives), and cut into the chicken to see if it’s done. It should take about an hour. Then start slicing chicken bits off the bone so that you have chunks of it falling into the soup.
13. Ladle into bowls. Add pasta (sparingly) into each bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

For even more flavor: sprinkle Osem soup croutons on top. They are tiny crunchy squares from Israel and are super delicious. I also add them to salads. No, they’re not healthy, but they’re not that unhealthy either. A healthy choice? Pumpkin seeds or hemp hearts.

Keywords: soup, chicken