Grilled Chicken Fennel Soup

Recipe courtesy of: Kim Forni

Ingredients:

2 butterflied chicken breasts, pounded thin

2 large boneless , skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

2 fennel bulbs (stalks with green included)

1/2 red onion, sliced

8 cloves garlic whole or sliced

1 leek (soft part only)

1/2 c. white wine

1 jalapeno, minced

1 stalk lemon grass

Lemon zest from 1 lemon and 1/2 the juice..

or to taste

1/2 lb gourmet cherry tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)

1/2 of 10-oz package fresh spinach

1/4 cup cilantro4 quarts chicken stock

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Heat some olive oil in a soup pot. Pound thin and marinade chicken breasts while doing the prep work. Then grill till done.Remove stalks from fennels . Then slice the fennel bulbs in about 1″ thick slices. Add fennel, onion and garlic to oil and sautee a couple of minutes. Cut the leek into 2″ long sticks and add in. Grate in lemon zest.

Add stock.

Cut off the dark green “grass” part of the lemon grass & leave only the soft stalk. Slit it down the middle and stir in the soup with the minced jalapeno and bring to a boil and lower flame.Season with salt and white pepper. Add white wine.

In the meantime, grill chicken breasts, season with salt and black pepper, and cut into strips.Once the fennel gets soft, slice tomatoes in half and add to pot. Now remove the lemon grass stalk from the soup.Toss in chopped cilantro and spinach cook for about 5 minutes.Place a few pieces of grilled chicken in bottom of serving bowl, pour soup over and serve.