Have you had enough vegetables today? If you blew through breakfast and ate a sandwich at your desk for lunch, you could easily be off kilter from a well-rounded diet. That’s okay. Just make up for lost time with this Swiss chard soup. Of course, it’s loaded with the vitamin-rich, dark, leafy green. But you’ll also scoop up celery, carrots and shallots in every belly-warming bite. For even more nutritional boost, use broth as your base. And if you’ve got a meat-eater to feed, add chicken sausage to the pot. After about 30 minutes on the stovetop, balance will be restored.
Yields: 6 cups
Ingredients
1 lb. mild Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
6 cups unsalted vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. pink salt1
/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
Directions
1. In a soup pot over medium heat, add sausage and cook until no longer pink. Using the back of a spoon, break up sausage into chunks.
2. Once sausage is cooked through, turn heat to medium-low. Add Swiss chard, shallots, celery and carrots. Cook about 5 minutes.
3. Add broth and spices; and then bring mixture to a boil.
4. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until vegetables are soft and tender.
5. Adjust seasonings, to taste. Serve warm.
Note: Want an even heartier dish? Add one quartered potato in Step 2.