Dijon Chicken Kale Stew

Making soup is good for my self esteem. It's really hard to mess up soup/stew, you know? If it doesn't taste quite right, add a little something else- some fresh herbs, another veggie, some mustard, whatever. If you add a little too much of something, just water it back down or add some potatoes/beans to even it out. Eventually, if you keep adding and subtracting, you'll pull out a spoonful and think yum.

Every now and then I stumble upon a flavor combination that tastes like a high-concept dinner, something special. (Though I assure you, I have no room in my head right now for any high concept dinners unless they occur by accident. I'm having a FOURTH baby in a few weeks. Mostly my brain is operating on a get-by-need-to-know-don't-even-think-about-it basis only.) This Dijon Chicken Kale Stew is one of those happy flavor combinations that happened once and now keeps making its way back onto the dinner table.

I was definitely thinking about Katie's delicious Honey Mustard Baked Chicken as I was tossing in ingredients like Dijon mustard and fresh rosemary. I was channeling winter warmth as I sprinkled on the red pepper flakes for some mild heat. I was certainly thinking seasonally when I pulled out the potatoes and kale. They all combined into a tasty, hearty stew that it is incredibly flavorful.

I feel like it might be one of those soups that tastes even better the next day - really flavorful leftovers - but we haven't actually had any leftovers yet to test my theory. If nothing else, however, this soup is a good self esteem boost.

Dijon Chicken Kale Stew

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

⅓ cup all purpose flour

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces

½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup dry white wine

4 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

½ cup water

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 cups cubed red potato

8 cups loosely packed baby kale

crushed red pepper

Directions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender and golden. Spoon mixture into a bowl.

Place ⅓ cup flour in a shallow bowl and dredge chicken in flour. Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same Dutch oven. Add the chicken in batches until all of the chicken has been thoroughly browned - cooking about 6 minutes on each side. Add cooked chicken to onion mixture.

Add wine to the pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. While wine simmers, whisk together broth and 2 tablespoons of flour. Add broth mixture, water, and mustard to the wine and bring to a boil. Stir in chicken and onion mixture, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Stir in potato. Cover and simmer over low heat for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until potato is tender. Stir in the kale and simmer for 10 minutes, or until kale has softened. Garnish with crushed red pepper. Remove rosemary sprigs. Serves 6.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.