Chicken "Confetti" Soup with Quinoa & Black Beans for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

This is one of those "throw it together" kinds of soups. I started out wanting chicken soup because I had just made a bunch of slow cooker stock from an organic chicken. At first I was thinking chicken and rice, but decided to change the rice to quinoa to change it up a bit and add some more nutrients. Then my mind took a south-of-the-border turn with some black beans and spices. With a bunch of veggies added in, it is hearty, healthy (and almost too thick to be called a soup), bright and colorful with the confetti-like pieces of vegetables.

Chicken "Confetti" Soup with Quinoa & Black Beans

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes about 10 cups)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped small

1 medium carrot, chopped small

1 stalk of celery, chopped small

1 red bell pepper, chopped small

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small zucchini, chopped small

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground cayenne or chipotle pepper

6 cups chicken stock

2 cups quinoa (I used mixed red and regular quinoa)

1 can "Rotel" or a can of diced tomatoes plus a can of green chilies

2 cups cooked (or 1 can) black beans

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1 cup frozen yellow corn

1 1/2 cups kale, finely chopped/shredded

juice of 2 limes

salt and pepper to taste

cilantro to garnish

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and red pepper and cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until softened. Add garlic and zucchini and saute another 5-6 minutes. Add spices, mixing into the vegetables for 1-2 minutes. Pour in chicken stock and bring soup to a boil. Once boiling, add quinoa, reduce heat to medium and cook about 15 minutes or until quinoa is cooked almost through. Stir in the Rotel, cooked black beans, shredded chicken, frozen corn and kale and return soup to a simmer. Cover and cook about 15 minutes so flavors have time to blend and kale to soften. Add lime juice, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro and extra lime wedges.

Notes/Results: Very thick and good--a great way to get a lot of healthy veggies into a meal. The cumin adds a nice smokiness, enhanced by the smoky spice of the chipotle powder and there is a nice tangy brightness from the lime juice. I used the veggies I had on hand but of course you could alter it and the spice level too, to suit your tastes. The quinoa soaks up a lot of broth so another option is to cook it separately and pour the soup over a scoop of quinoa in a bowl when serving. I would make this again.

We have some truly delicious-looking dishes waiting in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week:

Donna from My Tasty Treasures looked to some fellow Bloggers for her entry this week, saying "I saw this Beef and Barley Stew just a couple of days ago on Chris's Nibble Me This blog, who had seen it on Pam's blog, For the Love of Cooking. With these 2 giving this soup rave reviews I knew I had to try it right away. Such goodness in this soup.Absolutely a wonderful, delicious, loaded stew."

Here with a Tuscan Potato Soup is Kait from Pots and Plots. She says, "Several months ago, I threw together an Italian themed potato soup that was fabulous. But I decided to try my hand at lightening it up a bit more, bulking up the veggie quotient and changing things up a little bit. I swapped out the Italian pork sausage for turkey and added some other veggies in place of some of the potatoes. For my efforts, I dropped the calories to 356 and the fat to 12 grams for each of the 5 servings and came up with a healthy and flavorful soup with a taste of Tuscany."

A new face at Souper Sundays is Greg from two blogs, Crostini and Chianti, devoted to Italian cuisine and The Skinny Tipper, chronicling his amazing 125 pound weight loss. Greg has a White Bean Soup appropriate for (and posted at) both blogs. He says, "This is a recipe I decided to make today so I could use up some spinach, so don't look to closely and notice I forgot the spinach. It is only coincidence that my brother Bob asked that I post a bean recipe on the day I make bean soup. Everybody knows if he would have asked for it before I decided to make it I never would have made it, that's what brothers are for." Welcome Greg!

Chaya from Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog, made this Nutty Sweet Potato Soup from an Ellie Krieger recipe. Chaya says, "Can’t pass up a good buy at Costco. Thus, I have a load of sweet potatoes, sitting on a chair. I don’t want it to get too cozy so I will be making sweet potato recipes for a while. I have made a number of my “orange soups”. They are orange because they are made of sweet potatoes, carrots, squash or pumpkin. They are all good with a subtle sweetness and usually some tangy flavor from other ingredients."

A recipe for Copycat Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Panera courtesy of her favorite section of The Food Network magazine resulted in a new favorite for my friend Kim from Stirring the Pot. She says, "This soup recipe is velvety smooth and sinfully delicious! I loved it so much that I am craving it again and will be making it very soon! Altogether, the recipe takes about 1 hour to make, but it is seriously good and very worth it. This is a must make if you are a broccoli cheese fan."

L.K. from Healthy. Delicious. is ready to get some balance back in her diet after all the indulgences of the holidays and this healthy Manhattan Clam Chowder is the perfect way to start. She says, "We love clam chowder, but typically go for the creamy New England style over the tomato-based Manhattan style. Shawn was actually very skeptical when I said I wanted to make this, because he hates tomatoes so tomato based soups really aren’t his thing. He loved it though, and told me that I should make it again! Served with a crusty piece of bread to sop up the broth, this is the perfect dinner on a snowy January night."

A recipe for Shrimp Ravioli in Brodo with Spinach and Ginger from Saveur helped satisfy the ravioli craving Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies was having. She says, "I also added some chicken stock to the sauce to make it "in brodo", more soup-like and less likely for the ravioli in the tender wonton skins to stick to each other. This was a not-too-difficult recipe with sophisticated results. It seems labour intensive at first but it can be made in stages. Very yummy indeed."

Graziana from Erbe in Cucina made a tasty and spicy sandwich this week, this hearty Jalapeno Burger. Graziana says, "Summer chilies are rich and colorful, but I admit that limited winter chili harvests make me really proud. I cut the Jalapenos into slices, cooked them with the hamburgers, and add to this recipe for a hot touch."

Wow--some wonderful soups and a spicy burger too this week! Thanks to everyone who participated. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich you would like to share, click on the logo on the sidebar for all the details.

Have a great week!