You all know I love a healing chicken soup. It’s classic TCM food therapy. This soup is so easy and economical and I wanted to share how special the flavor is, too. The broth turns out a beautiful, rose-tinted color from the rainbow chard added at the end, and slow-cooking the whole chicken gives much mineral content to the broth as well - which is so important for our immune health right now. The chicken goes in whole, but you will be able to break it apart with tongs and remove it easily in parts after it’s done, avoiding the mess of cutting your chicken into parts while it’s raw, or even after it’s roasted. And it basically shreds itself it’s so tender. You can keep the bones of this chicken to then create another broth later on, and the gift keeps on giving. So minimalist, refined, and delicious. Here’s the recipe - it will make about 6+ servings depending on your appetite. This is also an ideal postpartum recipe to build blood with chicken meat, dark leafy greens and mineral rich broth, adding some red dates to the mix while cooking would even enhance this action.

chicken soup healing soups chicken broth chard

Boiled Chicken & Chard Soup //

1 whole chicken, about 3.5 lbs + Salt

veggie scraps, garlic, ginger, peppercorns

a few large leaves of rainbow/red chard

Let the chicken rest and pat dry, then salt it inside and out. I salt very generously & use about 1/4 - 1/3 C of salt for this chicken, rubbing it in well and thoroughly.

Then gather any veggie scraps you have for the broth. I used some celery tops, chunks of yellow onion, a few ginger slices, a few fennel tops, some chard stems (white stems), some black peppercorns, a few smashed garlic cloves. Place these in a large pot, then add your chicken and cover the whole thing with water almost to the top. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover the pot (I leave a little crack for some steam to escape). Simmer this on low for about 2 hours (it will technically be done sooner than that, if you’re in a rush, so check it). If your chicken is sticking up out of the water a bit, you may want to get tongs and a wooden spoon and gently turn it over so that it cooks evenly top to bottom when you’re about half way through. Remove the chicken and let it cool for a few minutes in a pan, it will come out in very tender pieces with your tongs. Shred it up - it basically shreds itself. Strain the broth and return it to the pot, composting the veggies. Add back in shredded chicken and reheat, then roughly chop your chard and add it in, cooking just until the greens are tender. You can serve it with some dulse flakes, cilantro, lime and avocado if you want to get into toppings, but it doesn’t need it.

chicken soup chard healing soup immunity postpartum recipe

Earth Nourishing Cabbage Soup // I went over this in stories last night if you want to check it out while it’s still up. Ive been thinking a lot lately about food that nourishes the spirit, grounds us, & soothes the nervous system. These are Ear… — Earth Nourishing Cabbage Soup // I went over this in stories last night if you want to check it out while it’s still up. Ive been thinking a lot lately about food that nourishes the spirit, grounds us, & soothes the nervous system. These are Earth phase foods. And this happens to be Vata season and Metal season - Earth foods support these phases, as well as support us in turmoil, stress, or times of great fluctuation and change. These are our current times. To make this soup | ½ head green cabbage + 2 carrots + 1 small potato + 1 head fennel + 1-2 tsp anise seed + 2 tbsp ghee. Chop everything and sauté in ghee with anise until the veggies start to reduce in size and become tender. Add 5 C water and simmer for about 20 min. Add in 1-2 tsp light/ mellow miso and stir well. Remove half of the soup and blend/liquefy until smooth and return to pot. Stir together, add salt if needed, and serve. | This soup is naturally sweet and very aniseedy in flavor. The cabbage is cooling for stress and gut inflammation and the anise + fennel add warmth & movement to avoid stagnation. This is a quintessentially Earth phase soup to balance Vata and nourish Metal this fall. It’s great for promoting healthy digestive function & centering yourself. Must like anise flavor to enjoy. Take care of yourself and each other. 💗
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#medicinekitchen #metalseason #chinesemedicine #fiveelements #mindfulness #healingfoods #therapeuticfoods #intuitiveeating #earthelement #stressfood #soups #vegetariancooking #eatingwelleats #anise #qifood #holisticnutrition (at Austin, Texas)
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October 30, 2018 by Sarah Luikart