vegetables

My homemade chicken soup is probably the best thing I make. I always make a big batch when my boyfriend, Clinton, or I feel sick. I try to use mostly organic produce, premium filtered water and organic, free range (and pastured if I can find it!) chicken breast and drumsticks (for the bones). I find that chicken breast gives the soup a really nice flavour and whenever I make it with no breast and just the drumsticks, it doesn’t taste the same and isn’t as good.

The secret ingredients to my soup are as follows:

Ginger
- Aids digestion, relieves nausea, eases headaches and sore throats
Garlic
- Reduces length of common cold, reduces blood pressure, improves bone health
Turmeric
- Anti-inflammatory, helps prevent cancer, aids against depression
Paprika
- High in vitamin A, vitamin E and iron
Cumin
- Aids digestion, improves immunity against the common cold
Pink salt (I use either Himalayan rock salt or Murray River salt)
- Regulates water content in the body, promotes a healthy pH balance, promotes blood sugar health
Black pepper
- Improves digestion and intestinal health

Not only are all of these ingredients super healthy for you, but also make soup taste ah-mazing! These ingredients, along with all the vegetables and chicken, make for a hearty and healthy cold and flu cure!

This soup is mostly paleo, but I use about a teaspoon of butter and coconut oil to fry up some of the vegetables. If you want this to be a paleo dish, simply add more coconut oil to replace the butter. Also replace the potato with more sweet potato or pumpkin. Some paleo eaters include sweet potato whereas others do not.

This recipe serves four.

Ingredients:

Coconut oil (for frying)
Butter (for frying)
1 leek
1 brown or red onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 knob of ginger
Sprinkling of turmeric
Sprinkling of cumin
Sprinkling of paprika
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 sweet potato (I didn’t have a sweet potato so I used more potato)
¼ pumpkin
1 handful of snow peas or beans (I had leftover snow peas in the fridge)
1 small head of broccoli
Any other vegetables you want to add – zucchini, brussel sprouts, squash etc.
2 chicken drumsticks (I didn’t have any drumsticks in the freezer so I didn’t add any this time)
1 chicken breast
Sprinkling of dry or fresh rosemary
Enough filtered water to cover the vegetables
Massel chicken stock (powder)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large handful of spinach (to serve at the end)

Method:

Slice the leek and the onions (not too big, can be small if you’d like), cut the garlic and ginger into small pieces.

Add butter and coconut oil to a large saucepan or pot on a medium heat and add the leek and onions and fry until soft. Add the garlic and ginger now.
Fry the leek and onion until soft and add the garlic and ginger.

Wait a few minutes and add turmeric, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir and cook the spices with the vegetables.

Add the spices and stir into the vegetables.

The vegetables should turn a yellowy colour from the spices.

Add the carrot, potatoes and pumpkin (and sweet potatoes if using) and cook on low to medium for about 7 – 10 minutes.

Cook the carrot, potatoes and pumpkin (and sweet potato if using) for 7 – 10 minutes.

Prepare the snow peas, broccoli and any other vegetables you are adding while you wait. Also cut the chicken breast into small cubes and sprinkle on some fresh or dry rosemary to the chicken pieces.

Add the snow peas and broccoli (plus any other soft vegetables you are adding).

Sprinkle rosemary onto the cubed chicken breast.

Add enough water to cover the vegetables and boil. Add the chicken breast and drumsticks (the boiling water will poach the chicken fairly quickly).

Wait for five minutes and add the remaining vegetables. Add in some chicken stock and more salt and pepper (I like to add about 2-3 tablespoons of chicken stock so add as many or as little as you like depending on the flavour).

The pepper, pink Himilayan salt and chicken stock that I use to flavour my soup.

Let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes or until you want to serve. If you are letting the soup simmer for a long time, add the broccoli about 20 minutes before you serve if you like it crunchy!