Tuscan Chickpea Soup With Kale

How was your Halloween? Ours was crazy, as always. As long as I can remember it's been a wild night for us. The kids are all so hyper and excited and run ahead of us trick-or-treating. It always makes me nervous so I'm glad it's over!

We had a great party at the end of the cul-de-sac with way too much food and the kids came home with too much candy.

My son weighed his pillowcase full of treats and it came in at a whopping 12 pounds. Ugh, the thought of him eating all that makes me sick. So we have a trade in policy. I used to call it the Halloween Fairy, but they are on to me. They can keep 10 pieces of candy and we donate the rest to the troops. In return, give them money. That's a great deal in my mind. I save $$ in dental visits!

After consuming too many Baby Ruth's last night, I know you are ready for a healthy fix from this Tuscan Chickpea Soup with Kale. It's creamy, rich and full of so many layers of flavor. I tried something totally new with this recipe; adding sun-dried tomatoes in place of diced.

The other trick to this soup is pureeing 2 cups of it and adding it back in. This makes the broth thicker and makes for a much creamier final product. You can use this trick with any soup. I popped 2 cups into the Vitamix and blitzed it for a few seconds and tada, instant yumminess.

I love kale added this way towards the end of the cooking process. It adds so much color to the soup and makes it super healthy. Feel free to substitute spinach, swiss chard or escarole. Another neat trick is to put a parmesan cheese rind in while it's simmering. I didn't have any so I couldn't do it but have done it in the past and it adds a ton of flavor.

As far as chicken broth goes, I am partial to chicken stock. I use Kitchen Basics and it makes the soup a rich dark color. When I see that clear chicken broth I know that it lacks flavor. This makes a big difference when you are making soups and stews.

Looking for more yummy fall soups? Try these...

• Salsa Verde Chicken Soup
• Easy Skinny Quinoa Chili
• Gluten Free Lasagna Soup

This recipe was adapted from this one at My Recipes.