Q's cold-fighting woo-POW! Chunky Chicken and Vegetable Soup!

I mastered my own version of Chicken Soup! I was so excited by how well this turned out I had to share the recipe. I hope anyone who tries this will like it! =)

Q’s Cold-fighting  Woo-POW! Chunky Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Serves: 5-6 (or 2-3 very hungry people!)

This is my first variation in making my own chicken soup and adding ingredients that help fight a cold/flu. Make sure to use low-sodium broth (or make your own broth!).  I made it for my fiancé while he was sick and it seemed like it helped him recover well. Active fighting ingredients from my research are the chicken broth, chicken, ginger, garlic, parsley, and kale (I cross-referenced a lot of websites!) Other great ingredients for variations could include spinach, spicy ingredients like cayenne pepper or chilies, red bell pepper, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and barley. =) A great healthy dish as well. Take that evil bacteria!!

(I could have taken a better picture but these were my leftovers!)

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts (without skin)

2 quarts Chicken broth (more or less depending on how much soup you want!)

2 cups water (more or less depending on your preference)

2 cups baby peeled carrots – diagonally sliced

½  large yellow onion - sliced

2 ½ cups chopped celery

½ turnip – cubed

5-8 slices of ginger (a lot of ginger if you’re sick!)

6-8 cloves of sliced garlic (more or less depending on your preference)

½ a bunch of kale (more or less depending on your preference)

¼ cup of either fresh chopped parsley or 1 tbsp of dry parsley

Kosher salt or salt-free seasoning to taste

Pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large stockpot (at least a 6 quart pot or larger depending on how much soup you’d like to cook), heat chicken breasts in chicken broth and water to a simmer or slightly boiling (low to  low-medium heat) for 25 minutes (or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove chicken to cool and cut into pieces. Add carrots, onion, celery, turnips and garlic. Continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes (or more depending on how soft you want your veggies to be). After, add chicken back into pot and add ginger, parsley, salt and pepper.  If it looks like the broth has reduced, you can add more water or chicken broth. After 2-3 minutes, add kale. Let it continue to simmer on low for about 5 minutes or until kale is cooked through.