Chicken, Kale, And Quinoa Soup

• 4 center-cut bacon slices
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped carrot
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 6 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• 6 cups chopped kale
• 2 teaspoons thyme leaves

1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings. Crumble bacon; set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high. Add onion, carrot, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to drippings in pan; saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; saute 2 minutes. Remove mixture from pan.
3. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Saute 6 minutes or until chicken is browned and done. Stir in onion mixture, chicken stock, bay leaves, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; bring to a boil.
4. Place quinoa in a fine sieve; place sieve in a large bowl. Cover quinoa with water. Using your hands, rub grains together for 30 seconds; rinse and drain. -Repeat procedure twice. Drain well. Add quinoa to pan; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add kale and thyme to pan; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Discard bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle with bacon.
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center, onion, carrot, kosher salt, garlic, cooking spray, skinless, freshly ground black pepper, bay leaves, quinoa, chopped kale, thyme

Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-kale-quinoa-soup (may not work)