Not Your Momma's Chicken Soup

Seems like every time I’m thinking I’m not a soup eater, I see a recipe for something that looks super yummy or it’s really cold out. We’ve had a particularly mild winter in New England this year, but we’ve not completely avoided the super cold days. On one of those frigid days, I again decided to make some soup. At this point I know you guys are thinking, “Yeah right, this girl is a closet soup eater!” And maybe I am or maybe I’m still just too southern for this cold weather! Either way, I had a huge bunch of swiss chard from my organics box, so I decided to make some soup with greens. Perhaps it’s just my love of greens in broth that provokes my soup cooking….I’ll keep thinking on this and letcha know! I decided to go outside of the chicken noodle box and substituted for potato gnocchi. Mostly because prior to a fabulous gnocchi dinner at Posto in Davis Square, I was under the impression that I didn’t like gnocchi! I stand corrected!

Here’s the breakdown

½ onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced small

2 carrots shredded

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2 chicken breasts

4 cups chicken broth

1-14 oz can diced tomatoes (garlic, basil, oregano flavored)

1 bunch swiss chard

1 lb potato gnocchi, fresh

borsari to taste

pepper

¼ tsp. garlic powder

Cut the chicken breasts into bite size chunks. Sauté the onion, celery, carrots, red pepper flakes and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until tender (3-4 minutes). Add the chicken and sauté until cooked through. Add chicken broth, diced tomatoes, borsari, pepper and garlic powder. Stir well. Cut or rip the chard into small pieces and add to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the gnocchi and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Despite the gnocchi, this was a light and very tasty soup! And the chard made me feel great about eating it. Try this one out before Spring gets here!