Chicken Soup
It’s flu season and one way to stay healthy is to keep your immune system strong. I believe that a dose of healing soup can be as preventative in keeping the flu away as a flue shot- with offers much better after affects.The Healing Recipe: Chicken Soup
The key is to start with good animals and organic vegetables.You know: animals raised right. Right as in outside, roaming around living the life of sunshine and good food without chemicals and antibiotics.Using bones to start a stock is key. I say Sunday is stock day: get into the habit every Sunday of roasting bones for stock. Roasting a whole chicken during the week and save the carcass for your stock. Or if you are in a hurry, you can use a whole bird.You can use, bones of chicken, fish, lamb, venison or beef, they contain minerals, gelatin, cartilage, collagen and electrolytes to help heal. Chicken soup has been called “Jewish Penicillin”. Key ingredients to making it a super food is the length of time cooked and organic ingredients.This recipe contains great ingredients vital for your health. Put everything in a large pot, simmer with 3 gallons of water for many hours- and you’ve got a powerhouse of health in one pot. This stock can help reduce inflammation, reduce joint pain, strengthen your immune system, repair intestinal wall from effects of IBS, Celiac and Crohn’s disease. This is a great way to boost your immune system. I would bet my life that this has a better chance than the flu shot!Fall in love with making stocks and live better! I Promise.
- STOCK 3 gallons filtered cold water- (You can make less this if you don’t have a big pot,but honestly! it freezes so well..)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 6 tablespoons organic extra virgin coconut oil or grass-fed butter
- 3 whole chicken carcasses - If you want chicken meat in your soup- you can roast a whole chicken and remove the meat to add at the end using the circus for the stock
- 6 organic carrots, peeled and sliced
- 6 stalks organic celery, sliced
- 3 medium organic onions, diced
- 2 heaping tablespoons of grated ginger
- 6 cloves garlic, diced or minced (more if you love garlic)
- 4 tablespoons Celtic sea salt
- 1 large can of organic fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- To finish the soup:
- 1 gallon chicken stock
- 2 onions diced small
- 4 celery diced
- 2 zucchini diced
- 3 carrots diced
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 3 cups cooked chicken meat
- 1 large bunch organic parsley
- Place all of the stock ingredients into a large stock pot. Bring to slow boil then turn down to simmer for 10-24 hours! Yep, the longer you cook it the more nutrient dense it becomes. Do not boiling boiling makes for a cloudy broth.
- Strain the bones and vegetables.
- This is a super food for people with digestive issues, bone disorders, arthritis, cancer, Lyme disease, and other ailments. Use it as a base ingredient for cooking grains or instant soups.
- In a skillet add 3 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil or butter and sauté onions, celery, zucchini, carrots and garlic. Allow to soften and add to the stock. Add chicken meat and just before serving add chopped parsley.
Here is why on the ingredients
Apple cider vinegar: Helps draw minerals from the bones and into your soup.Tomatoes: Yeah, I know: tomatoes in chicken soup? I love them, but you can omit them if they just don’t speak to you. If you have sensitivity to salicylates, the nightshade family of foods, or if you have severe digestive issues, skip them. I love the organic fire roasted tomatoes and they are added at the end for flavor andOrganic extra virgin coconut oil: Contains large amounts of lauric acid, which have potent anti-fungal and antimicrobial properties.Organic chicken: Organic is better for you and the planet. Bones from beef, lamb, wild game, turkey, and duck can all be used to make a good broth or stock if you don’t have a chicken. Collect bones in zip lock bags and keep in the freezer until you can make stock. You can find meat bones at most dairy and beef farms.Carrots: rich sources of carotenoids, B vitamins, phosphorus, calcium and all important iodine. Use organic.Onions: Loaded with B complex vitamins, C vitamin, calcium, carotenoids, magnesium, potassium and sulphur compounds. They help kidney function and have antibacterial properties.Ginger: It is an anti-inflammatory. Ginger improves the absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients in the body. It helps ease settle the stomach.Garlic: Loaded with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antibiotic properties.Mineral Celtic sea salt: Is high in organic iodine, contains trace minerals, sodium chloride and magnesium salts.Zucchini is the ideal way to restore a sodium depleted liver.Parsley: Contains myristicin, Vitamin K and is a rich source of anti-oxidant nutrients, and a great the flavor enhancer! Add to soup just before serving- you do not want to cook parsley as it looses much of the beneficial properties. Now what to do with that chicken stock once you make it.Once you have chicken stock on hand, you can turn out a pretty tasty dinner in minutes.I love thighs, but you can use whatever cut you wish.The key is to sprinkle the meat with your favorite spice blend and sear the chicken with the spice blend. I always cook 4-6 more than I need so that I have lunch and dinner for 2-3 days. Us as much parsley as you want as it is so very good for you!
- 8 chicken thighs with skin on (organic and pastured of course!)
- 2 tablespoons berber or smoky paprika or curry powder
- 2 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 Tbsp butter
- ½ cup dry sherry
- 3 lemons + 1 preserved lemon (if you have them!)
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth
- 6 Tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
- sea salt to taste
- Squeeze the juice out of 2 of the lemons and set the juice aside.
- Slice four very thin slices from the center (the widest part), and set those aside, too.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high with the olive oil and heat for another 30 seconds or so. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté until the onion is slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove the onion and garlic from the pan and set them aside.
- Add thighs, one at a time, to the hot pan. Cook 15- 20 minutes per side or until they are nicely browned. Remove them from the pan and set aside on a plate. Add the butter and allow it to melt and get foamy.
- Add the stock or broth, sherry and lemon juice to the pan and scrape off any flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. Then return the onion-garlic mixture to the pan and heat it through, adding a bit more oil or butter if necessary.
- Return the chicken to the pan, bring the liquid to a boil, then lower it to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until the mixture has reduced by about one-third.Remove the chicken breasts and plate them with the onion mixture and parsley.