People LOVE soup. It tastes delicious, it’s comforting food and it makes them feel warm on a cold day. In Latin America, we’re used to eating soup all the time, most of our mothers know that nothing will nourish you back to health when you have the flu better than some hearty soup. It’s part of our culture and we’ve perfected some recipes along the way.
How Do You Create Soups That Nourish?
Making soup is relatively easy; just pick a protein and vegetables that you like, right? Well in most cases, that’s the easy way to go, but when you’re feeling sick and you want your soup to do more than just taste good, it’s important to put right ingredients in the pot.
Ingredients for an Immune Boosting Soup
Cabbage: can increase your body’s ability to fight off infection
Ginger: supports digestion and helps alleviate a sore throat
Garlic: is a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
Leafy greens: kale, chard, and collards offer a good dose of vitamins A and C
Beans: rich in zinc, which help boost your immune system
Carrots: rich in beta-carotene, which helps fight off respiratory infections
Tomatoes: help boost your body’s natural defense system, high in vitamin C
Mushrooms: increase body’s resistance to viral infections
Beef: is a good source of zinc, plus the protein helps build antibodies
Turmeric: is high in antioxidants and is a natural immune system booster
As you can see, you can pick and choose the ingredients that you most like or feel are the most beneficial to your health. Most people enjoy chicken soup, but if you’re going to make chicken soup, make sure you stay away from the chicken breast. You get more health benefits from the chicken bones, the same way you do from cooking red meat with bone-in. When you cook chicken it releases an amino acid called acid cysteine, which is similar to a drug that is used to treat bronchitis.
Flu Fighting Chicken Soup
INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp coconut oil
Salt and pepper
1 whole chicken, about 4 to 5 pounds
3 large leeks, cleaned and sliced thin
3 carrots, sliced in 1/4-inch rounds
3 celery sticks, chopped 1/4-inch
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
2 whole sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 (about 1 tsp) minced
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup white wine, sherry or vermouth
6 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 cups winter greens, chard, kale, beet greens, sliced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Instructions
In a 6 quart Dutch oven or comparable heavy-bottomed pot heat coconut oil or other high-heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering but not yet smoking. Season chicken with salt and pepper inside and out. Place chicken in pot and sear on all sides until golden brown, turn when each side removes easily from the bottom of the pot. Remove to a plate, and reduce heat to medium.
Remove all but 2 tablespoons of oil in a pot, you can reserve the drippings and rendered chicken fat for dumplings or just discard. Saute leeks, carrots and celery until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add half of the thinly sliced garlic and minced herbs, stirring for another 30 seconds. Sprinkle with flour and stir for another minute.
Using a heavy wooden spoon, scrape off the browned bits from the bottom of the pot as you add the wine. As the bottom becomes clean add chicken stock. Return chicken and any accumulated drippings to pot. Cover and cook until chicken is tender and will easily pull apart about 40-50 minutes. If using chopped potatoes, turnips, parsnips or sweet potatoes, and add after 20 minutes.
Remove chicken and whole herbs from the pot, discard herbs. Remove meat from chicken, discarding bones. Return chicken meat to pot and stir in along with the rest of the garlic, greens, and parsley. Cook until greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Serve hot, alone, with noodles, or wild rice.
