Garlic Chicken Vegetable Soup

I am sorry to admit that I have been neglecting my blog! With the upcoming move, craziness at work, and loads of travel, I am a bit behind on sharing my recipes. Before I fully shift into Spring gear, I need to share a few leftover recipes that I have enjoyed over the past few weeks. Soup has been a regular part of my weekly routine for the past few months, and this great take on chicken soup was a perfect breakfast (yes, breakfast) a couple of weeks ago. I sadly missed the farmers market due to travel, so I stopped into Foodies, grabbed every veggie that looked good, and threw them together to make soup. As I prepare for life back in the office, I am going to be doing a lot of meal planning and cooking ahead like this!

On another note, I am thrilled to announce that I am officially pre-certified as a health coach and can start seeing clients. I am really looking forward to working with people on adding balance and happiness to their lives by adopting healthy and holistic lifestyles. It is a busy time for sure, but it feels great to know that I am working on something that is making a difference in the world. Anyone interested in a free consultation should fee free to reach out. I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Garlic Chicken Vegetable Soup: Serves 8, Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 70 min

Ingredients:
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 large sweet onions, chopped
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 head of garlic, diced
- 1 bag baby carrots, chopped
- 1 bag celery hearts, chopped
- 2 turnips, peeled & chopped
- 16 oz. mushrooms, chopped
- 2 lbs. chicken breast
- 2 quarts organic, no-sugar-added vegetable or chicken broth/stock
- 1 large bunch of kale, stems removed & chopped
- salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat
2. Add onions, leek,and garlic and cook for 10 minutes until soft
3. Add carrots, celery, turnips, and mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes

4. Lay raw chicken breasts on top of the veggies, and then add the broth/stock

5. Bring the pot to a boil, then cover the pot and let simmer on low for 45 minutes

6. Add the kale and let cook on low for another 5 minutes

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!

      

Paleo Chicken Soup on SOWA Sunday

Do you love food enough to go to two food festivals, a paleo potluck, and a farmer's market all in weekend? I do! Today's adventures included the Boston Local Food Festival and the SOWA market. If you are wondering what a 26-year-old paleo girl eats at a food festival when she is all alone, here it is: 

This meal definitely was worth all the embarrassment of carrying such an absurd plate around without a friend by my side. Knowing that any friend of mine would support this decision was all that mattered. I ate my Thai chicken stick and Haitian plantain and then visited 50-100 vendors all with local products and businesses. There were farms, restaurants, gluten-free bakeries, sustainable energy vendors, bands, and more. The weather was horrible, but it was well worth the trek. I even got to taste the most delicious gluten-free macaroons that were 100% paleo! I would've taken a picture, but I ate it too quickly :)

After the food festival, I headed back to the South End and stopped at SOWA to stock up for the week. You can see I got a solid haul this week of carrots, parsnips, turnips, zucchini, honey crisp apples, tomatoes, eggs, shallots, onions, some fantastic paleo crackers (www.sproutedrawfoods.com)and a beautiful 5lb. pastured chicken from Westminster meats (www.westminstermeats.com). My favorite part of SOWA every week is when I buy my eggs from my favorite farmstand - a fantastic barefoot hippie farmer in a cowboy hat picks a dozen eggs for me, opens the carton, gives all twelve a slow, careful stroke, and then tells me they are beautiful. This man makes my Sunday every Sunday.

After having some great chats with the local vendors and filling up my bags, the rain finally started. I headed home and did what any person in their right mind would do on a rainy Sunday in the fall - make chicken soup. 

Ingredients:

- 5lb. chicken (mine was frozen)

- 2 bunches carrots, chopped

- 3 turnips, chopped

- 2 parsnips, chopped,

- 2 onions, chopped

- 2 Tbsp. chopped garlic

- 1 quart chicken broth

- 6-8 cups water

- Olive oil

- Salt, pepper, paprika, parsley, and oregano

1. Heat olive oil over medium-low heat and add chopped onion and garlic for 5-10 minutes

2. Place whole chicken on top of onions and season generally on both sides with salt, pepper, paprika, parsley, and oregano

3. Add the quart of chicken broth and all of the chopped parsnips, turnips, and carrots

4. Add 6-8 cups water as needed just to cover the chicken 

5. Bring the pot to a rapid boil and then cover the pot and cook on medium-low for about two hours (can do less if you're really hungry)

6. Take the chicken out of the pot, remove skin and bones, and add all shredded meat back into the pot

7. Put on some sweatpants, turn on an amazingly bad tv show, and enjoy!

 P.S. If you are ever wondering how to remember the difference between turnips and parsnips, just ask my mom - turnips are round, and parsnips look like... well, just ask my mom!