Do you believe it’s possible to eat food that is both nourishing and delicious?  It certainly is. Here is proof in the form of an amazing soup:

Filled with warming spices like turmeric, ginger, and cumin, and the additions of a lemony bone broth, this soup is one that satisfies your need for goodness and nourishment.

Often, when we need comfort food or to boost up our systems around here, I make Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles or Chicken Dumpling Stew.  But the other day, I needed to take all of that up a notch, and this is what I came up with.  I was hesitant only because I wanted the benefits of the turmeric and cumin and kale, but didn’t know if those would be a tough sell for certain members of my family.  Nope.  This was a hit with even the pickier members of my group and the leftovers were the gift that kept on giving.

You have options with the way you make it.  I cooked a whole chicken with salt and pepper in the crock pot and covered it with water, removing the meat once cooked and adding the bones back in to cook overnight to make a quick bone broth.  You will get a deep, rich, nutrient-rich broth that way, but you certainly could skip this step and cook the chicken in a soup pot for a few hours and create your own broth which gives you depth of flavor.

I cooked rice separately as we prefer it served over rice, but you can certainly add rice to the broth as it is cooking and just cook until it is soft.  You could also go vegetarian on this one and use vegetable broth and skip the chicken! Like I said, you have options. :o)

Since I already covered the chicken cooking options, I’m going to assume you already have 6 cups of broth and 4 c. of cooked white and dark chicken ready to go for the next steps of the recipe.

Add 2 T. olive oil to a large pot and heat to medium.

Add in 1 c. chopped onion and sauté for several minutes until onions are tender and translucent.

Add in 4 cloves chopped garlic,

and 2 tsp. chopped fresh ginger and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes.  Add in a bit more olive oil and then 1 tsp. each of turmeric and cumin and stir to toast the spices and release the flavors.

Add in 6 cups of chicken stock or broth, and the following ingredients:

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

the zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 bay leaves

and if you’d like 1 cup of your choice of rice.

Rinse 2 cans of chick peas (garbanzo beans) well and add them to the pot.

Bring the whole thing to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.  If you plan to serve it over rice instead of adding the rice to the soup, this would be a great time to cook up a few servings of rice.

Add in 2 c. of chopped kale leaves and simmer an additional 15 minutes.

Add in the cooked chicken and let it get warm, season to taste with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves, and then serve it up!

That’s it!  You just created a soup filled with ingredients that nourish a body from head to toe! The turmeric provides great anti-inflammatory properties and has other powerful medicinal properties.  The ginger is also an anti-inflammatory food that is also and anti-oxidant as well as providing a boost to the immune system.  Each has dozens of other health benefits worth researching.  The chick peas are full of protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber and kale packs a superfood punch!  We all know the bone broth from a well-sourced chicken is full of amazing health benefits as well!  Enjoy this deliciousness.  I just know you will.

Lemon Chicken Chickpea Soup

 

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Cook time

30 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Filled with warming spices like turmeric, ginger, and cumin, and the additions of a lemony bone broth, this soup is one that satisfies your need for goodness and nourishment.

Alison: That Which Nourishes

Serves: 6 servings

Grocery List

• 1 whole chicken
• 6 cups chicken broth or stock
• 2 T. olive oil + extra
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• The zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cans chick peas (garbanzo beans)
• 2 c. kale
• 1 c. rice (optional) or 4 c. prepared rice

Here's how...

1. Instructions for cooking the chicken are in the blog post, but the preferred method is to cover the chicken with salted water and boil until the meat is cooked. May add bones back in and cook overnight in the crock pot or several hours on the stove top to make a bone broth if desired.
2. To a large soup pot, add 2 T. olive oil to a large pot and heat to medium.
3. Add in onion and sauté for several minutes until onions are tender and translucent.
4. Add garlic and ginger and sauté and additional 2-3 minutes.
5. Add in a bit more olive oil and then 1 tsp. each of turmeric and cumin and stir to toast the spices and release the flavors.
6. Add in chicken stock or broth and then the following ingredients: salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest, bay leaves, rice if desired, and rinsed chick peas.
7. Bring the whole thing to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. If you plan to serve it over rice instead of adding the rice to the soup, this would be a great time to cook up a few servings of rice.
8. Add in the chopped kale leaves and simmer an additional 15 minutes.
9. Add in the cooked chicken and let it get warm, season to taste with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves, and then serve it up!

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