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White Bean Soup with Chicken, Fennel and Mustard Greens

Make a meal of this comforting, healthy, lively, weeknight quick soup.
Course Main Course, Soup
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 3 strips bacon
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup peeled and diced shallots
  • 1 carrot, peeled, sliced thinly crosswise, then chopped
  • 1 small fennel bulb, halved, cored and sliced thinly crosswise
  • 1/2 bunch mustard greens, or more torn into 1 to 2-inch pieces
  • 1 15- ounce can white beans, cannellini or great northern, drained and rinsed (or 2 cans—see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1 pound of Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (optional—see Kitchen Notes)
  • 4 – 5 cups chicken stock, homemade or store bought (reduced sodium for the latter)
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/2 pound cooked chicken (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano plus more for the table
  • 2 teaspoons at least freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • salt, if needed

Instructions

  • First, fry the bacon, starting it in a cold, large heavy-bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven and turning it occasionally. When the bacon is just crispy, transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel (carefully—the pan is hot).
  • Add the olive oil to the pan over low-medium heat. Sauté the shallots, carrot and fennel bulb for 4 to 5 minutes, until all is softening and the shallots are clear.
  • Next, add the mustard greens and stir-fry everything together until the greens begin to wilt, 2 or 3 minutes.
  • Add the beans and crumble in the bacon, then pour in the chicken stock and fish sauce. Stir again, then bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about 10 minutes. Add in the cooked chicken, heat through, then add the Parmesan or Romano and the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and more lemon juice, as needed. That’s it, ready to serve. We suggest offering extra Parmesan and lemon wedges for those who want to make further adjustments.

Kitchen Notes

More beans? Potatoes? We added some potatoes to our recipe because we didn’t have enough beans. We liked it a lot with potatoes, but you can also just use two cans of white beans.
Yes, you need fish sauce. It adds an umami to the soup that adding more salt can't provide. And it doesn't taste fishy. Red Boat brand is our favorite.
Cooked chicken? Any kind of cooked chicken will do here, as would cubed firm tofu. The first time we made this, we made a quick stir-fry of a half-pound of uncooked chicken breast, which we cut into bite-sized pieces and marinated for 15 minutes with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, and then sautéed until it was nice and golden.