Spiced black bean & chicken soup with kale

 Use up leftover roast or ready-cooked chicken in this healthy and warming soup, spiced with cumin and chilli.

Ingredients

    2 tbsp mild olive oil

    2 fat garlic cloves, crushed

    small bunch coriander stalks finely chopped, leaves picked

    zest 1 lime, then cut into wedges

    2 tsp ground cumin

    1 tsp chilli flakes

    400g can chopped tomatoes

    400g can black beans, rinsed and drained

    600ml chicken stock

    175g kale, thick stalks removed, leaves shredded

    250g leftover roast or ready-cooked chicken

    50g feta, crumbled, to serve

    flour & corn tortillas, toasted, to serve

Method

    STEP 1

    Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the garlic, coriander stalks and lime zest, then fry for 2 mins until fragrant. Stir in the cumin and chilli flakes, fry for 1 min more, then tip in the tomatoes, beans and stock. Bring to the boil, then crush the beans against the bottom of the pan a few times using a potato masher. This will thicken the soup a little.

    STEP 2

    Stir the kale into the soup, simmer for 5 mins or until tender, then tear in the chicken and let it heat through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and juice from half the lime, then serve in shallow bowls, scattered with the feta and a few coriander leaves. Serve the remaining lime in wedges for the table, with the toasted tortillas on the side. The longer you leave the chicken in the pan, the thicker the soup will become, so add a splash more stock if you can’t serve the soup straight away.

TORTILLA TRIANGLES

We like my tortillas slightly crisp and blistered. You can heat them in a dry frying pan until they puff up, or do it the lazy way: fold each tortilla into quarters, then pop into the toaster, pointy-end down. Toast for a little less time than normal bread.

By Jane Hornby