Chicken, Kale, and Quinoa Soup

I loved this but admittedly I made some alterations. First I decided to halve the recipe.  When I brought out the bacon from my refrigerator I noticed that it was moldy (ugh!) so I decided to use turkey bacon which I happened to have on hand. First, I cooked 2 slices of turkey bacon in the pot and then removed it and set aside (and crumbled it once cooled). This ended up being a great addition. I also had some hot Italian chicken sausage that needed to be used up so I then removed the casing of 1 sausage and browned it in the pot (crumbling it as I cooked it). At that point I needed to deglaze the pot and I used some boxed chicken stock to deglaze it.  Turkey bacon doesn't provide enough drippings so I added 2 tsp olive oil to the pot and then added the onion and carrots and followed the directions for that through browning the chicken.  I used homemade chicken stock for the soup base (I only used boxed chicken stock to deglaze after the sausage).  I added 1 can of diced tomatoes when I added the chicken stock and that is also when I added the browned sausage. Given that I had halved the recipe I think this was too many tomatoes but if I had made a full recipe it would have been great.   For most CL recipes I increase the amount of salt (my blood pressure is normal) and for this recipe I added 1.5 times the original recipe which was the right amount. At the end I loved the soup but decided (with trepidation) to add the juice of 1/2 lemon (remember I halved the recipe) per the suggestion of others.  It was just the right thing to do and the right amount (so 1 lemon for a full recipe).   Next time I might double the chicken thighs (and skip the sausage).  If I skip the sausage I would add some crushed red pepper (probably 1/2 tsp for a full recipe) to add some heat which I love.  Finally, the quinoa sunk to the bottom so make sure to stir it well prior to serving to include the quinoa in the soup.  This will definitely go into my winter soup rotation!  

Rinsing is not necessary with the quinoa brand Ancient Harvest. Love their quinoa varieties.

I read the other reviews and took their advice by adding the juice of 1whole lemon. I also added several different kind of meat: extra lean ground turkey, chicken thighs, turkey bacon and 2 chicken sausages.

The chicken sausage is a great touch adds a lot of flavour.

I also added barley in place of quinoa, it's a great substitute significantly more fibre then Quinoa.

I also took the liberty to add GINGER about table spoon dried or a 1 inch cube fresh. The ginger added a lot of flavour. I also added celery, this helps a lot with flavour and pairs great with chicken stock.

I left out the thyme but would've liked to add tarragon as suggested by other reviews but didn't have that either.

All in all this soup is guilt free and delicious, I would definitely make it again

Add: lemon, ginger,celery, chicken sausage, and extra lean ground turkey

I cooked the veggies with the bacon and added a little cayenne pepper to the chicken. I reduced the amount of quinoa to 1/2 cup, and added a can of cannellini. Delicious.

Delicious, healthy soup - the bacon is a great addition. I make a large batch and freeze it.

I love this simple soup. Although initially skeptical, I find myself making this again and again! The only thing I add is fresh minced ginger to the garlic sauté.

Made this soup last night and my husband and I both love it. The only thing I added was some shitakes. It sounded bland when I read it, but it was really full of flavor. Definitely a keeper.

I agree with the assessment of another reviewer that this was actually kind of bland. Here are the changes that I made to brighten the flavors up a bit. I added a can of petite diced tomatoes, the juice of a whole lemon and tarragon instead of thyme. Tarragon marries well with chicken, and has a lemony taste itself, so it worked well with the addition of the acidic components. I love the concept of all the healthy ingredients, so adding the tomatoes and the fresh lemon juice worked well with the kale and quinoa. I also sauteed everything in vegetable oil and then added some chopped canadian bacon instead of regular bacon, which cut down on the fat content. Very happy with the results.

This soup sounds great and is super healthy. We found it a little bit bland and wound up not adding the bacon to the final soup (tasted weird), but added lemon juice (1 whole lemon) which brightened it up and the soup is great now.

Really delicious! I agree with everyone who said it was better than the sum of its parts--I was somewhat skeptical when I decided to make it, but I'm convinced! Filling without being heavy, and perfect for a gloomy, rainy November day. I did not change anything from the recipe, and would not change anything in the future. I served it with some parmesan baguette toasts.

This recipe is delicious! The variations I made are: I added 1 large celery stalk with the sautéed veggies, used 1 cups carrots, subbed boneless, skinless chicken breast, and ended up using 8 cups kale. I also used 5 cups vegetable broth and 3 cups chicken broth. I probably needed extra broth due to the added kale. I did not have any thyme, so I used oregano and parsley instead. I seasoned chicken with crushed red pepper in addition to the salt and pepper. Oh, and reduced the quinoa to 1/2 cup, to cut carbs and calories. . If I had a can of diced or stewed tomatoes I would have added that in as well.I plan to freeze most of this for weekday lunches. Great way to use up unused kale

I actually liked this recipe quite a bit and will make it again for sure. Cutting up all the chicken thighs was kind of a pain but in tasting the final product, dark meat is the way to go for sure. Next time I'll use my chicken shears to make the job easier. I made a couple of small tweaks. Once I finished sauteing the onions and carrots, I just added the chicken right in. Also, I cooked my kale for closer to 20 minutes - after 5 minutes it was still to crunchy for my liking. Used only 1 tsp thyme and when I make it next I will only use one bay leaf. Using pre-washed quinoa eliminates the who rinsing step!

The bacon and bacon drippings took this soup from boring to delicious, but still kept it feeling healthy. My nephew suggested just putting the quinoa in the sieve and running the faucet over it rather than the process suggested in the recipe. I didn't notice any bitterness, so maybe it worked. (I used white quinoa.) I also used prechopped Tuscan kale from Trader Joe's, but otherwise I chopped everything. It took me longer than an hour to make, but it was a simple recipe. I will definitely make it again.

This soup was tasty, healthy, and relatively easy to make. I hate rinsing rice and quinoa before cooking, so I don't, and this soup was no exception. I didn't rinse the quinoa and still thought it tasted great, not sure how much it would change/increase the flavor had I rinsed though.

Wow, this is so much more than the sum of its parts. I made as directed, only increased the recipe by half. It's got a wonderful, rich flavor, and I'm going to enjoy it all week.

This soup is really good, but the quinoa rinsing was a major pain. I get it - it's necessary for the flavor, but my strainers are either too small for the amount of quinoa to be rinsed or had holes so big the quinoa went right through. I ended up making a bag out of cheese cloth and using that to hold the quinoa while I rinsed it. What a pain!! I may not use the quinoa next time, for that reason. Otherwise the flavor was great, and the soup is filling and healthy.

Wonderful. I didn't bother with the cooking spray, I just added the chicken to the pan with the onions and carrots. Next time I will double the recipe because it freezes well.

I really liked this recipe. I didn't bother w/the bacon, and used my combination of canola/olive oil instead of the bacon and the cooking spray. I used lachinato kale as that was what was available in the market.

Delicious. Healthy, hearty, nice body. A keeper!