White Bean Chicken Pesto Soup with Parmesan Hush Puppies and Arugula Pesto Salad

I sit and think about the unique challenges life often presents. I haven’t met anyone who has not been challenged in some way. So often, people around us are being challenged in ways that we could never even imagine. There are many of us who do not share our challenges with the world. We keep them tucked away inside. We think about them at 3 a.m., and we cry about them alone in the shower. Be kind. Smile at strangers. Shovel the snow for your neighbor. Be a light that brightens someone’s day, even when being challenged yourself. It is powerful. It is beautiful. It helps heal our lives and our world.

This month I received another unique cooking challenge! Four ingredients for an appetizer. White beans, jarred pesto, ground chicken, and pork rinds. I modified mine a bit, per the rules, as I do not eat animal skin. So the pork rinds are out for me. I substituted with crispy plantain chips. I prepared an appetizer trio that can also be used in larger servings as a tasty main course. This turned out to be a fun, creative, and delicious challenge. If you make a batch of it, consider sharing with a neighbor or friend – be a light in their day! Enjoy!

My favorite tips:

*The beauty of this recipe is the way the basil and pesto bring the soup, salad, and hush puppies together into a tasty trio.
*I prepare my hush puppy batter and salad dressing first, then fry the hush puppies while the soup is simmering. It works well that way!
*This recipe works well as an appetizer trio or as a larger main course.
*For my wine, I use Chardonnay. Feel free to experiment here with your favorite!
*When making hush puppies, I suggest using a bit of olive oil on your fingers, as the dough is sticky!

White Bean Chicken Pesto Soup with Parmesan Hush Puppies and Arugula Pesto Salad

Recipe by AmiessaCourse: Dinner, AppetizersCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

• ARUGULA SALAD WITH CREAMY PESTO DRESSING

• 1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt

• 3 Tbsp pesto

• 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

• 1/4 cup 2% milk

• 1/2 lemon, juiced – approximately 1 1/2 Tbsp

• Arugula

• Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

• Garnish – lemon wedges

• PARMESAN HUSH PUPPIES

• 1 cup corn meal

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour (can substitute gluten-free all purpose flour)

• 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

• 2 eggs

• 1 Tbsp dried basil

• 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp 2% milk

• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

• 1/2 cup plantain chips, broken into small pieces

• Canola oil

• WHITE BEAN CHICKEN PESTO SOUP

• 1 pound ground chicken

• 3/4 cup onion, diced

• 1/2 cup celery, diced

• 2 Tbsp garlic, minced

• 3/4 cup carrot, finely sliced

• 1 1/4 cup white wine, such as Chardonnay

• 3 15 1/2 ounce cans cannellini beans with liquid

• 24 ounces gluten-free chicken broth

• 1/2 cup pesto

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• salt and black pepper to taste

• Garnish – fresh basil, sliced

• Garnish – plantain chips

Directions

• Prepare Creamy Pesto Dressing – whisk together Greek yogurt, pesto, Parmesan, milk, and lemon juice. Set aside.
• Prepare Hush Puppy dough – Add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and basil to bowl and mix. Add eggs and mix. Add milk and stir well. Set aside. For coating crust, add grated Parmesan and plantain chips to food processor. Blend until crumbled for coating. Roll dough into 1 inch balls using fingers. Coat well in the Parmesan plantain mix and put onto wax paper. Set aside. Retain excess coating mixture for later.
• Place ground chicken into stock pot on medium-high heat and cook until browned and cooked through.
• Add onion, celery, garlic, and carrot. Cook until onion is translucent and ingredients start to soften.
• Stir in white wine. Simmer 3-4 minutes.
• Add cannellini beans and chicken broth. Stir in pesto. Bring to boil and then turn down to a slow simmer. Add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer slowly 30-40 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
• While soup simmers, cook hush puppies as follows: Add Canola oil to pot for frying, or use deep fryer. Heat oil on medium to medium-high heat until oil is hot. Add hush puppies 5-6 at a time. Remove when hush puppies are lightly browned and floating to top of the oil. Coat immediately in remaining coating mixture. Place on a serving plate.
• Prepare salads with arugula and cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with dressing.
• Serve soup with hot hush puppies and salad. Use smaller portions for appetizer trio, and larger portions for dinner servings. Garnish with fresh basil, lemon wedges, and plantain chips. ENJOY!

Notes

• *I prepare my hush puppy batter and salad dressing first, then fry the hush puppies while the soup is simmering. It works well that way!
• *This recipe works well as an appetizer trio or as a larger main course.
• *For my wine, I use Chardonnay. Feel free to experiment here with your favorite!
• *When making hush puppies, I suggest using a bit of olive oil on your fingers, as the dough is sticky!