Chicken, Potato, & Kale Soup

Chicken, Potato, & Kale Soup

This is my best masterpiece yet. I modified this recipe from the VitaMix blender cookbook. I've made this soup about 4 times, and I finally perfected it. It usually takes me about 15-20 minutes start-to-finish, and the Vitamix does most of the work. Here's the scoop:

Ingredients

3 small yukon potatoes, boiled with skin on (can also use red potatoes)

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cup skim milk

3/4 sweet yellow onion

3-4 green onions

1/2-1 tsp basil

1/2-1 tsp italian seasoning

1/4-1/2 tsp dried dill

sea salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash to taste

4-5 Fresh, Organic Kale Stalks (about 1/2 of a bunch)

4-5 Fresh Mushrooms (I prefer cremini)

4 pieces grilled chicken breast, chopped

Uncle Ben's Brown Ready Rice (optional)

1 ounce hard organic mild cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Season chicken breast to taste. Grill chicken breast in George Foreman Grill. Set aside.

2. Spray large skillet with Pam and add approx 1T olive oil. Saute 1/4 yellow onion, 1-2 chopped green onion, mushrooms, & garlic in pan for 1-2 minutes. Add green, leafy portion of kale stalks and lightly season with Mrs. Dash. Continue to saute until kale is soft. Set aside.

3. Prepare Uncle Ben's Brown Ready Rice in microwave (optional). Make sure to get the plain brown rice, as other versions of Ready Rice contain a significant amount of sodium. You can also use boil-in-bag brown rice or your other favorite rice.

4. Place remainder of yellow onion, remainder of chopped green onion, 2 boiled potatoes, chicken broth, & skim milk in VitaMix container. Secure lid. Make sure the variable speed is set to #1.

5. Turn on Vitamix and quickly increase the variable speed to #10; then to HIGH. Run for 5 minutes or until the mixture is steaming hot.

6. Season broth to taste with basil, Italian seasoning, dill, salt, & pepper. Use Vitmix on variable setting #1 to incorporate seasonings into the mixture. I usually eyeball amounts and taste along the way :-)

7. Disperse 1/2 of kale mixture and chopped chicken breast into 3-4 soup bowls. Gently toss together.

8. Turn blender speed up to #3. Remove the lid plug and add kale mixture and potato. Run blender about 5-10 seconds.

9. Pour soup base into prepared soup bowls and integrate. Add 2-3T of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice to each bowl. Top each bowl with chopped hard cheese. You might also want to add fresh chopped green onion to each bowl as well.

This recipe should yield 3-4 servings. You can add more or less chicken, kale, rice, etc to get the desired consistency. I love this soup! It's healthy and delicious. You get a flavorful, relatively creamy soup without using fattening milk or cream like you'd find in a restaurant. ENJOY!