Quinoa and Kale Chicken Soup

Hey everyone and thank you for coming back to the Diary of an Inner Fat Kid! I know practically everyone has made a new years resolution to eat healthier, work out more and make 2014 "Their year"! I probably aided in the extra pounds some of you added on during the holidays with the amount of cookie recipes that I provided. So all of this month's recipes will be focused on healthy foods. There are a few trends out there that some may find intimidating. Quinoa and kale are two of those trends that health gurus are claiming have amazing health benefits and super powers - but no one really knows what to do with them. So here are a few quick tips:

Quinoa - treat this like any other grain like rice, our couscous, and you can replace your pasta side dishes with a quinoa side dish!

Kale - you can use this leafy green to substitute anything that you would use spinach for. A big trend is kale chips which you can make by placing a bunch of kale on a backing sheet, drizzling with olive oil, salt and pepper and baking at 375 for about 10 minutes and eat for a snack!

For this soup you will need the following (recipe derived from Cooking Classy):

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (raw)
• 1 1/4 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium onion)
• 1 cup chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup dry quinoa
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 4 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth (7 cups)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (15.5 oz) can Great Northern drained and rinsed
• 4 cups packed kale, roughly chopped (thick ribs chopped and discarded) - I just bought the precut/washed stuff! 
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Finely shredded parmesan cheese, for serving

Start off by placing your chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add you celery, onion, and garlic. Drizzle these ingredients with olive oil.

Next, add the quinoa, thyme, rosemary and chicken broth.

Let that cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Once you have let your soup cook, remove the chicken and let it sit for 10 minutes, Meanwhile add your beans, kale and parsley.

Chop your chicken into bite sized pieces and add back into your soup.

Let sit for 10-20 minutes longer and serve topped with parmesan cheese! 

I want to try out a few more recipes with these two ingredients throughout the month. Let me know if you try this out! It was very wholesome and tasty!  Enjoy!