Sundried tomato, kale, white beans and chicken

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Alot of recipe creators get made fun of for having impossibly long recipe titles - however, wow! I kind of get it! Because what the heck am I supposed to call this dish other than the main components??

Back to the recipe: this is an insanely nutrient-dense recipe filled with protein and fiber (2025 buzzwords!). I love beans and I am constantly adding to everything I eat. It’s a hearty, tomato based dish where half the beans are pureed to lend to a thicker/creamier sauce with chicken and kale, finished with basil, parm, and lemon - all to be eaten using a big fat slice of some sourdough as a vessel (it’s also delish over some rice). This dish feels like something a Strega Nona would cook in her Tuscan countryside farmhouse.

I would definitely double this (that way you use up a full carton of chicken broth, 3 cans of beans, and full can of tomato paste) and it heats up beautifully.

Insanely long title tomato/kale/bean/chicken recipe:

Ingredients

1lb chicken, cut into 1in cubes and seasoned to your liking (I did salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder)

1/2 onion, diced,

6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1.5 cans of canellini beans (any white bean works, and you could definitely just scale up to 2 full cans - the more beans the merrier)

3 oz tomato paste (1/2 can)

2c chicken broth (plus more if needed, or can sub water + chicken bouillon)

2 tbsp. sundried tomatoes, chopped (plus some of the oil it’s packed in

1 bunch of dino kale, washed and chopped

Red pepper flakes, salt, pepper

Oil (I used avo oil)

to serve: juice of 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced basil, grated parm

directions

Place a large cast iron on the stovetop and set the heat to medium high, cover the pan in oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add in your cubed chicken and allow to brown. Flip the chicken and brown the other side - allow to cook until chicken is cooked through. Adjust heat up and down as needed.

Place the cooked chicken on a plate and set aside. Add the onions and garlic to the hot cast iron. Pour a little chicken broth to help deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get up all the browned bits. Allow the onions and garlic to sautee until translucent - about 2 minutes. Next, add in your beans and allow to warm, about a minute or so.

Spoon about half the beans into a container (suitable for a hand blender) and remove the cast iron from the heat. Add a splash to of chicken broth and using an immersion blender (alternatively, using a blender or you can place in a cup and mash down with another cup/masher etc), blend the beans until fully pureed. Set aside.

Place the cast iron back over heat (I switch to medium at this point). Add about a tbsp. of the sundried tomato oil. Add in the tomato paste and red pepper flakes. Allow the paste to cook until a dark, brick red. Add in your sundried tomatoes and allow to sautee for about a minute. Next, add chicken broth and bean puree. Stir until combined. At this point, I like to season before I add back the chicken, keeping in mind the chicken will add some salt - but you want the sauce to stand out on it’s own.

Add back the cooked chicken and allow to simmer until reduced by a third, or until desired thickness of the sauce. Pull off the heat and add the juice of half a lemon, stir. Finish with a ton of grated parm and basil. Eat with a slice of toasted sourdough or over some rice - so delish!