My chicken soup for the cold season

Every cold season I get hooked up on one ingredient and use it as widely as possible. Last year i had my heart set on shallots cooked in butter, red wine and french herbs, this year it’s chicken! I’ve been a pescatarian for about 15 years but after a year of breastfeeding my daughter my body demanded animal protein and chicken was happy to oblige. The daughter in question also influenced not only what but how I cook – mainly one pot or tray dishes that are easy to throw together (quite literally) with one hand. So a chicken soup or stew of sorts became my new staple. It really ticks all the boxes: a perfect cold-weather warmer, it has all the nutrients my family needs, full of simple yet delightful flavour & it keeps for days!I’ve made different versions of it so feel free to add your stamp. Mine is mainly dictated by what’s in the fridge and needs to go first. So it’s pretty green too in every sense of the word!

Ingredients
1.5 litres of chicken stock (home-made or cubes)
2 chicken legs or breasts
1 celery stick
1 brown onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of capers
1 small bunch of parsley stalks & leaves
A splash of white wine (optional)
1 large yellow potato
1 tin of beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Lots of greens of choice – cavolo bero, kale, savoy cabbage
1/2 lemonSalt and fresh pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat up the stock in a pot and boil the chicken until tender and falls off the bone easily if using legs.
2. Strain and pull the meat. Set aside.
3. Heat up some olive oil in a pan fry the celery, onion, garlic, capers and finely chopped parsley stalks with some salt and Italian herbs for 10 mins until it starts to catch. 
4. Add a splash of white wine and increase the heat till the alcohol evaporates.
5. Add the fried stuff into the pot with the chicken along with peeled and cubed potato and beans.
6. Bring to boil and cook till the potato is soft. At this point add the greens and give them a few minutes only so they don’t lose their colour.
7. Take off the heat and squeeze half a lemon.
8. Season more to taste and serve with some cracked black pepper. It’s a great way to use all sorts of greens that might be getting tired sitting around in the fridge. You can also swap potato for orzo or any other pasta which works just as well!