When the weather takes a cold, there can be nothing better than to have this chicken soup on hand, stocked up in the fridge and saved in the freezer to nourish your body in the colder, wetter seasons. Developped and perfected over the last couple years, I bring to you my "Miracle" chicken soup recipe. You are most welcome.
FOOD IS A LOVE LANGUAGE
Making food like this for yourself is taking care of yourself, add it to your self-care routine. But for a lot of us, taking care of others comes more naturally, right? Certainly speaking for myself as a mother, I am always looking for the next way I can show my loved ones that I care for them. You got the snuffles? No problem, soup is on it's way. There is no better gift than homecooked goods and I would love for it to be more normalised. Take care of yourself, always, but if we all took care of each other too, taking care of yourself would be just that much easier. Especially when there's chicken soup in your fridge.
IMMUNE BOOSTING QUALITIES
Chicken soup, albeit delicious, warming, that cosy feeling you yearn for after that muddy dog walk, is nourishing.
Cooked slowly in a broth using vegetables and herbs, the chicken meat's nutrients and proteins are hydrolysed (broken down) in the water, providing a collection of available peptides and amino acids. In a chicken broth soup, you will likely find collagen, carnosine, cysteine, anserine and taurine which all work with your body to provide immunomodulatory functions and protective benefits.
The collagen, as we all know thanks to the thriving beauty industry, supports our skin health whilst other peptides and amino acids such as carnosine, minimises inflammation, aiding us to combat the snuffles. Cysteine is a great mucus-thinning remedy that helps decongestion of the nose and chest.
Glutamine can also be found in a chicken broth-style soup, which is a non-essential amino acid that has been shown to strengthen the walls of the intestinal lining, improving permeability to reduce inflammation. Non-essential amino acids simply mean that your body is able to produce these itself, using various biological building blocks, or it can be obtained via the diet. In times when your immune system adjusts to a new and cold season, giving it a good serving of nutrient dense, nourishing foods can't hurt one bit.
THE ANTIOXIDANT POWERHOUSES
Ginger and tumeric always steal the spotlight when it comes to conversations around immune-boosting foods. Why? Its their anti-oxidants. Their nutritional properties are considered to play a key physiological role in protecting the integrity of cells and tissues by managing harmful substances in the body.
The anti-inflammatory properties of these foods have been extensively used across centuries of human remedial practices. Though data from studies is vague in areas, the general consensus is that ginger and turmeric have always been, and will always be a fantastic food to add to your diet for a naturally nourishing boost.
RECIPE
4-6 servings
keep refrigerated 3-4 days
store in freezer for up to 2 months in an airtight container
*served perfectly with a crack of salt & pepper and a slice or two of fresh, crusty sourdough*
Miracle Chicken Soup
1 whole chicken
2 bay leaves
handful of parsley, finely chopped
half a red onion, a full one can't hurt
1 leek
2 large carrots
2 large parsnips
4-6 leaves of sweetheart cabbage
1 thumb-size piece of ginger
2 small turmeric roots
4 leaves of sage
1 tsp (+ salt to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
Peel and chop all the vegetables to bitesize pieces. Don't chop too small, we want texture, not mush!
Add your onion, leeks, carrots, parsnips, ribboned cabbage, grated ginger and turmeric to your heavy based pot (I like to use a cast iron pot). Drizzle over the olive oil and turn to medium-high heat.
Once the onions begin to caramelise and the bottom of the pan starts to brown (not burn!), add the bay leaves and finely chopped parsley and sage to the pan and turn the heat down to low.
Put the whole chicken in the pot on top of the vegetables. Pour boiled water on top of the chicken into the pot, so that it covers just above the crown of the chicken. Each measurement of water will be different based on the size of your pot, but for me this is approximately 700ml - 1L of water.
Simply cover the pot with the lid and leave on low heat for approximately 45 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked, using tongs, carefully lift the chicken out into a tray and pick the skin, joints and bones away from the chicken and put the meat back into the soup.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. And voila.
This recipe is extremely versatile and can be changed up with different ways using up left over vegetables in your fridge. The carrot and parsnip can be swapped out for pumpkin and sweet potato, swede, celeraic, buttenrnut squash. Instead of sage, use rosemary, thyme, tarragon, lemon, there are so many variations so please do have fun with it and create something a little different each time.
Bon appetit!
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