Homemade Chicken Soup

A cold and rainy day in Southern California..the perfect night for a hot bowl of a rich and healthy chicken soup!

1 free-range chicken approx 3-4 lbs
3 stalks celery chopped
4 carrots chopped
1 large clove minced garlic
6 small red or white potatoes diced into 1 inch pieces
1 large zucchini chopped
1 can Italian style stewed tomatoes
1 can pinto beans, rinsed well and drained
1/2 bag Trader Joes cleaned Kale chopped
1 box Trader Joes Organic chicken stock
1/2 of a box "Orzo" pasta cooked

In 5 quart Dutch oven place rinsed whole chicken. Put in box of stock plus enough water to cover the chicken to about 2 inches from top of pan. Add garlic and all the chopped vegetables. Bring to a small boil and skim off fat and foam as it rises to the top, then turn down to a simmer and cover and cook for 1 hour. Remove chicken from pan and take all the meat off the bones, chop or shred meat and return to pan. Remove cover and add chopped stewed tomatoes, beans and kale. Continue simmering for an additional hour.
In another sauce pan, cook the orzo in salted water and rinse and drain completely.
To serve, place some orzo in soup bowl, top with your delicious soup! Being Italian, any soup I make is topped with grated Parmesan!
A dark red wine is perfect with this rich soup.
Hints: I never use onion in my soup, only garlic. I don't care for the onion flavor in this type of soup
I always cook the rice or pasta going into my soups separately. Otherwise it makes the soups too starchy and is way overcooked! Ciao Bella!