Green Chicken Soup

I've been reading a lot about how people are looking to soup as a means of detoxing. Jay and I have done a lot of harm on our bodies this summer (no regrets) and I haven't been feeling well this week. So for dinner tonight, we were looking for something clean, yet satisfying!

I stopped by Eataly's market and found a ton of seasonal greens that inspired to whip up a "green" chicken soup. Asparagus, Broccoli, Kale, Celery, Parnsnips, Carrots, Ginger and Onion are what I used; however, I'm confident you could make this soup with a wide variety of green vegetables in the base.

This alkalizing green soup has everything you need to feel restored and worked wonders for us. It's packed with potassium, protein and fiber, has no added salt or sugars (like a juice would) and a ton of extra nutrients for extra health benefits. I'm gladly taking all of the leftovers for lunch tomorrow (and regrettably do not own a thermos so a tupperware will have to do).

This recipe made soup for about 6 people to have pretty large bowls (16oz plus) for dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 stalks of asparagus, roughly chopped

• 2 cups broccoli florets

• 1 small onion, diced

• 1 bunch fresh kale, chopped

• 1 parsnip, peeled & chopped

• 1 carrot, peeled & chopped

• 3 celery stalks, chopped

• 5 garlic cloves, chopped

• A small piece of ginger (est. tbsp)

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Juice from 1/2 lemon

• Toasted nuts and seeds, to garnish (we used walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sea salt and chia seeds)

• 3 cups of chicken broth

• Pulled chicken (we used quartered legs because it's cheap but you could use whatever you want)

BROTH INSTRUCTIONS:

This recipe starts with the healthy base: chicken broth. Jay always makes our broth from scratch but you could get away with a low-sodium store bought chicken broth and make this in under 15 minutes - or you could use a vegetable broth to make the dinner vegetarian friendly. If you use chicken broth from the store, you may want to buy a pre-made roast chicken to pull the chicken and throw in your soup for some protein. I also thought it would be nice with chickpeas.

If you do make the broth homemade, Jay recommends putting chicken with skin & bones (6 thighs and drumsticks or a small whole chicken) in the bottom of a large stock pot. Then, add black peppercorns, thyme, dried parsley and then either whole garlic or garlic powder to taste. We add absolutely no salt to our stocks. Bring it to a boil in the stock pot and let it simmer for as long as you have time for (but at least 2 hours to get flavorful). The chicken should cook in about 45 min (depending on the cut). When the broth is done, strain and remove the chicken, then let it cool so you can pull it and use it for the protein in your soup. If you're super super serious, let the broth cool and skim the fat when it rises to the top (but there shouldn't be nearly as much in a chicken stock as compared to a beef stock)

SOUP INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, parsnip, carrots, celery and ginger and cook over low heat for 3 min, stirring frequently.

Add the chopped broccoli and asparagus to the man and cook an additional 5 minutes. It doesn't need to be too finely chopped, as it will be pureed later on.

Add about 3 cups of chicken stock the pan, bring to a boil, then cover the pot and let simmer for about 5 min, until the veggies are nicely tender but not mushy. Then, stir in the kale.

Turn of the heat for a while to avoid a food processor disaster like in my household. It always overflows when we try to use hot liquids. As such, I just added a proper Immersion Blender to our wedding registry which is much more functional for making soups while dirtying far fewer pots, pans and appliances! If you're doing it the bootleg way like me, add the soup to the food processor and process to obtain a smooth puree. I actually added some chia seeds to the blender to add some extra protein to our soup (though it was surprisingly filling anyways).

Put the soup back in the man to heat up.

To serve, I put pulled chicken at the bottom of our soup bowls. I then ladled the soup over the chicken and topped it with walnuts and pumpkin seeds, some crushed black pepper and some crushed red pepper. I also added a few unsweetened coconut flakes to mine.

When we make this soup again, which we inevitably will because I'm obsessed with how good it was (almost like a healthy broccoli/cheddar with the satisfying nature of a great pesto), we will probably increase the crushed black pepper and red pepper that go into the soup before blending to give it a bit of a kick. Otherwise, it was pretty perfect. If you're a cheese lover, you could definitely top with parmesan instead of nuts/seeds but I wouldn't do both.

Happy detoxing!