I recently had an emergency surgery and spend 3 days before surgery with just an IV and ice chips for my lips, then after surgery was just a liquid diet. They took the organ that regulates the fat of my food out of my body, my tummy looked like I was 7 months pregnant because the process left it swollen but empty and I had hunger for real food !
Before this, I have always been a healthy eater as much as is possible. I had always been kind of a health nut, There were some years that were not like that (I called it my dark ages) but still..always had taken care of my nutrition as much as I can. I always knew I had some allergies, gluten being one of them, but until now...didn't have such a hard diagnostic from my Doctor, No Gluten, No Fat or as low fat as possible, and same with dairy. So is a very simple diet for me, but because of clean eating is not a hard transition to me. But no dismay, my recipes will be for the general clean eating lifestyle as always had been. Is up to you to substitute Items for nongluten or any dietary restriction you have. :)
So as soon as I got out and had permission to eat, I knew I had to take it easy on my way to back to solids as much as I could, but I really wanted hearty food. So my solution was a chicken breast, no skin, no bones, no fat organic open range chicken breast broth, slow cooked with onions and garlic. And some veggies slow cooked in the broth so the were soft and delicious as well as nutritious. I drop some beautiful baby spinach leaves for Iron and vitamins, with carrots and potatoes and just a handful of northern white beans for fiber. The end?
A delicious clear broth that is both, satisfying and nutritious. The best part is that I save bowls in the freezer for the week, so I can just take out for lunch and either eat it alone or with a side salad or some bread or sandwich. For now, I'm just enjoying the soup. It is perfect for sick days and for transitions from fasting or just plain for a super low everything way to keep yourself stronger, healthier without all the additives and calories!
So if you feel the dreaded flu coming on, get thee to the grocery store and find the best quality organic chicken you can, because getting sick sucks, but getting sick with a bowl of this chicken soup to awaken your taste buds and nourish your belly, will make it suck just a little bit less.
Ingredients
3-4 open range organic no skin, no bones, no fat chicken breasts
1 Onion (cut into wedges) large
6 cloves Garlic (smashed with flat side of knife)
4 potatoes peeled and cut in 4s
Dry Northen white beans (a handful) or you can substitute for organic can beans but ad them on the last 30 mns of cooking drain.
1 bunch of spinach
1 tablespoon Kosher salt and some pepper
2 large Carrots, each cut into pieces
Directions
Put the chicken in a stock pot just big enough to hold it.
Scatter the onion, garlic and salt/pepper around the chicken. Cover the chicken with water, put a lid on the pot, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Continue boiling for 10 minutes. Then, turn down the heat, allowing the chicken to cook in the water for 45 minutes (don't open the lid during this time).
un cover, and get in the potatoes with the beans return the soup to a boil. When it boils, turn down the heat and simmer for 3 hours. Skim off any excess fats from the top then add the carrots. Cook the carrots until tender and salt the soup to taste. Add the baby spinach 15 mns befor serving. To serve, put down some chicken, carrots,beans and potatoes in a bowl. Pour the hot stock over everything and garnish with spinach. Serve with some french or rustic bread.
Enjoy it :)
