Soup is On!

Let’s be honest, the colder the weather gets the more I crave a bowl of soup. Not just any soup, but a soup that will fill me up and keep me warm throughout the day. When I get a craving for soup I typically empty out my fridge into a pot, throw in some pasta or rice and have a few crackers on the side. Those days are gone and let me tell you why.

In previous blogs, from my Kona or Bust series, I wrote a lot about working with my Health Coach, Krystal Say, and the food combining rules she was asking me to follow. If you didn’t get a chance to read about it I’ll give you a quick refresher. Carbs and proteins should not mix. Each are digested differently and when sitting in your stomach together you’re left feeling overly full and bloated. To give you a point of reference, think about how you felt post Thanksgiving dinner and everything thing you consumed. There you have it; food combining at it’s finest. There are exceptions to the rules and not all carbs are created the same but in an attempt to continue treating my body well and encourage continued recovery from Kona I’m sticking with it. Hence, the days of chicken noodle soup, homemade turkey & rice after Thanksgiving, and beef & bean chili for Sunday Football are gone.

If you can believe me I really don’t miss the recipes I grew up with. I see the world of food differently now. I have to resourcefully tweak recipes to eat the way I want to eat. In my search for a hearty and filling chicken soup I pulled out a cookbook I received for Christmas several years ago, New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein. I sorted through a delicious plethora of recipes and settled on one, Caribbean Chicken Soup with Coconut.

Why? Simple I like chicken and I like coconut. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory and aids in digestion, so why not. The recipe calls for lots of vegetables and room to be creative.

I made a few adjustments along the way and was rewarded for all 30 minutes of my hard work. Seriously, once I started chopping and dropping veg, broth, and chicken into the pot I was surprised at how quickly it came together. You’ll notice I put a few ingredients in bold. These are the items I tweaked. I also took the liberty of adding a few items just to give it an added nutritional kick.

• I used olive oil instead of canola. You could also use coconut oil.
• Instead of celery I got adventurous and tried celery root. I’m glad I did.
• The red bell pepper didn’t make it into my shopping cart, despite being on my list so I left it out.
• I added turnip for extra bulk. Yes, I know.  Food combining. If I’m going to food combine I’d rather it be with starchy vegetables and protein rather than grains.
• The homemade chicken stock was very quickly, and easily, replace with packaged organic chicken stock. I mean really; who has the time to make homemade chicken stock?
• I also subbed out the cilantro for several big handfuls of baby spinach. Greens are good and I always need to get more into my diet. 
• Topping the soup with half an avocado gives it an additional "filling" element.
• The biggest piece of advice I can give about this recipe is that it serves a small army! If you don’t have a small army kicking around the house half the recipe and you’ll still be able to feed the whole family.

I hope you enjoy the soup as much as I did. Please let me know any of your own tweaks. I’d love to hear them.

SK

Caribbean Chicken Soup with Coconut

Serves 10-12

3 Tbps canola oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbps peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

1 large red bell pepper

2 cups chopped cooked chicken meat

1 ½ cups whole corn kernels

1 cup shredded coconut

12 cups homemade chicken stock

Juice & zest of 3 limes

1 can (14 ½ oz coconut milk)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

½ tsp allspice

8 dashes hot sauce

1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

Kosher salt & pepper to taste

In a stockpot over medium-high heat add the oil, garlic, ginger, onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and red pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, corn, coconut, and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the lime juice and zest, coconut milk, coriander, allspice, hot sauce, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Simmer an additional 5 minutes.

Taken from New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker & Clara Silverstein