Zinger Chicken Soup

The origin of this soup is… Fridge Soup. Fridge Soup is soup I make at least once a week, sometimes at the end of a week, when the fridge is almost empty but the freezer is stocked with chicken broth because I bake so many chickens. Fridge Soup involves chicken stock and whatever happens to be in the fridge (and pantry). It is flexible. It is hearty. It is warming, calming, homey, and very, very low maintenance. At minimum, you need something like dried herbs, onions, carrots, garlic, a rice or a noodle, maybe some chicken or perhaps just some really nice beans. This particular Fridge Soup, though, came out really, really well. So well that the entire household agreed it deserved its own post. So here is it. I dub thee Zinger Chicken Soup, mostly because it blends thai flavors with Italian inspo super well in this spicy, zesty, fresh yet hearty soup like nothing I’ve ever quite tasted. If you want that specific experience, recreate the recipe precisely. If you just want to go the way of Fridge Soup, vibe on, my friend… vibe on.

what you need

1 lb chicken (a breast is fine)

1-2 cups cooked brown rice or wild rice, or 1-2 cups cooked pasta noodles of choice

1 cup beans (like a great northern bean, a pinto bean, or a kidney bean – a can is fine, but if fresh, soak overnight)

1 cup finely chopped vegetables in the allium family (e.g., garlic, onions shallots, green onions, leeks)

1 large knob of fresh ginger, minced

the zest from 1 lemon

the juice from that same lemon

2 thai chilies or serrano peppers. minced

6-8 oz dry white wine

1-2 cups finely diced carrots, celery, and/or baby turnips

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup parmesan cheese

8-10 cups chicken and/or vegetable broth (a mix of both is fine)

3 cups washed and trimmed kale, spinach, or swiss chard

3-4 tablespoons herbs of choice (e.g., herbes de provence, oregano, thyme, parsley, salt)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

how to make it

Method: stovetop

Utensil: Dutch oven or large cooking pot

Chunk your chicken and season it as you see fit (salt, olive oil, mustard, paprika, lemon juice, ???, get jiggy w it)

Place the olive oil in the dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken really well until cooked almost through. Remove from the pot and shred or cut into smaller pieces for the soup. Set aside.

Back to the pot. Go in with the white wine and fully deglaze the pan. Add the butter, alliums, peppers, ginger, red pepper, lemon zest, herbs, and salt, and give it a good solid sauté for a minute or two. Then add the carrots/celery/turnips, along with some more salt and black pepper, and soften for a minute or two more.

Once everything is softened, add the broth and the beans. If the beans were raw, at this point you’ll need to cover the pot and boil steadily for 40-50 minutes or until the beans are soft. If the beans were from a can, you can keep the boil to around 15 minutes.

Add the chicken, rice/noodles, and kale/chard, and boil steadily for another 10-15 minutes until everything is fragrant and combined. After the soup is mostly composed, kill the heat. Into the steaming soup, add the heavy cream (slowly so it does not curdle), the parmesan cheese, and the lemon juice. Stir to combine.

Ladle into 2-3 bowls, top with fresh chives or parsley, a glug or two of olive oil, and more parmesan cheese. Serve on its own or with very crusty, hearty bread.