Chicken Stew with Turnips and Mushrooms

Today's recipe is a savory and nuanced soup recipe that Laura adapted and modified from a recipe over at Eating Well. It's healthy, easy, and it's a complete meal in a pot. And like nearly every recipe here at Casual Kitchen, it doesn't cost a lot of time or money to prepare.

If you're not a big fan of turnips, not to worry! We're not either, but we still loved this soup. Somehow--no clue how or why--the mildly bitter turnip taste blends in and meshes flawlessly with all the other flavors. This soup is hearty and profoundly delicious. Enjoy!

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Chicken Stew with Turnips and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 large turnips (about 1 lb), peeled (see note #1 below) and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 cups chopped frozen kale
3 cups chicken stock (or 3 cups water and 2 cubes chicken bouillon)
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

Directions:
1) Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.

2) Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Set cooked chicken aside.

3) Add the remaining 1 Tablespoon oil to the pot. Add turnips, mushrooms, onion and garlic and saute on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, until the onion softens. Add wine and continue to saute for another minute. Add the kale, stock/broth and rosemary.

4) Return the chicken to the pot and bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the turnips are tender, about 12-13 minutes. Serve over rice.

Serves 5.
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Recipe Notes:
1) A note on prepping turnips: Turnips have a tough, thick skin, and you'll need to peel it all off before chopping the turnips into pieces and adding them to the soup. Either a knife or an aggressively wielded vegetable peeler works fine for this task. Just keep in mind if you use a vegetable peeler, you may have to make a few passes around the surface of the turnip.

2) What? More frozen kale? Yes! Once again, we've saved ourselves some effort by using frozen kale rather than fresh kale, making this recipe more pantry friendly.

3) For the turnip fans: If, unlike me, you actually are a big fan of turnips, there's another recipe here at Casual Kitchen you ought to check out: Southern Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Collards.

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