Saturday, March 3, 2012

Chicken, Beans and Greens Soup Recipe

Its been cold and icky weather in my area lately; I wanted to make a hearty, nourishing soup for my family to eat. I threw together this dish, that, though its rather minimal in ingredients, tastes quite delicious, and best of all, is pretty frugal, gluten free, and high in protein and nutrition. It was loved by everyone who ate it, including my guests.
I especially love this recipe because in my experience, greens and white beans pair together so beautifully; the creaminess of the white beans makes the greens silky smooth.
You can change up the ingredients to suit what you have around and it'll be just as yummy!

Chicken, Beans and Greens Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
~15 cups of chicken broth (I used the water made from cooking gizzards, but you can use any homemade chicken broth- see here for different ideas how to make it very frugally)
Chicken pieces (I used chicken gizzards as they're the cheapest where I live- if you use them, cook them in a pressure cooker to get them really soft and not chewy; you can use dark meat chicken chunks, chicken necks, etc. White meat chicken probably isn't a good idea for this as it'll get dry and icky if you overcook it in the soup. You can even leave this out to make the meal more frugal)
2-4 cup cooked white beans (I used soaked home cooked white beans; you can use canned beans if you want)
1 large onions
3 cloves garlic
2-3 tbsp oil
5 cups loosely packed nettles, mallow, spinach, wild mustard, sow thistle, or other (preferably foraged) greens (I used nettles; if using a slightly bitter green, blanch first in boiling water to remove bitterness.)
1 tbsp rosemary
Salt to taste

Instructions:
1. Make your chicken broth.

2. If your chicken pieces aren't already cooked, cook them in the broth until soft. (Or if you're using enough chicken pieces, make the broth just by cooking that chicken.)

3. Chop your onions and garlic. Saute them until golden. Add them to the broth.

4. Add the onions, garlic, beans, greens, and rosemary to the broth. Cook until the greens are soft.

5. Salt to taste.

Enjoy!

P.S. I served this over rice.

If you would make this recipe, how much do you think it would cost you to make it? I made a whole 5 liter pot of soup for a grand total of $2.50, and I could have made it even cheaper by using less chicken in the soup.
Do you like the taste of white beans? Have you ever tried pairing them with greens? What do you think of the combination?
Do you think this is a recipe you'd try?

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