Weekend Wellness: Chicken Soup

Now Hiring: a Food Photographer. 'Cause it's just not my thing.

It's Ebola Flu Season. Are you prepared? 

By "prepared", I don't mean all stocked up on dayquil and mucinex. I also don't mean "prepared" as having a food stash to last 6 months just in case of a country-wide out break of a foreign disease. 

What I want to know, is if you are preparing your immune system for the winter months? Do you know what to do if you do get sick? 

Let's talk about Soup. Chicken Soup, specifically. 

Such a majestic aluminum foil background. 

Recently in school I have been studying the energetics of food. It is truly fascinating. As it turns out, according to these energetic principles there is a very specific reason that chicken soup is used to treat illness. Chicken soup has been used for thousands of years in China and the Middle East especially, to cure illness. It was used not only as a regular food, but as a remedy for illnesses such as colds, influenza, and even for people on their death bed. 

But why chicken? Why not beef or lamb? If you look around on the internet about why chicken soup is used to treat illness you will find fragmented scientific studies that really end with one conclusion: it works. But science doesn't know why. If we step away from science and into food energetics, we would look at the nature of the animal for the answer. 

Let us compare chickens and cows...

Think about how a cow moves. What is a cows temperament? What kind of energy does it have? Cows, when fully grown, move slowly. They kind of lumber around, munching on grass and are not very interesting to watch. So what kind of energy do you think a beef stew would give you? In food energetics, "you are what you eat". You literally take on the qualities and temperament of that animal. 

Now, when you look at chickens you see quite the contrast. They move around, have high energy and when raised naturally have lots of vitality. These are the kinds of qualities you would want when trying to recover from an illness. Think about the common saying "like a chicken with it's head cut off". Even when chicken's are decapitated, they still have energy and vitality. I would dare to argue that whatever illness you may face this season will hardly compare with having your head cut off. 

Ok, let's make some soup! 

You will want to start your soup with a high quality, homemade broth or stock. Stock is made by boiling just the meat of the chicken with seasonings and vegetables. Broth is made by cooking the bones of the chicken for 24 or more hours. I like to roast the chicken, remove the meat and save it to add to the soup later, and then use the bones to make broth. You can read all about the amazing benefits of bone broth here. Dr. Auer also includes a handy PDF with his broth recipes available for free download. So be sure to check that link out! 

After you have your homemade broth or stock ready (sorry, the store bought stuff doesn't count!), you can decide which vegetables to include. I like to use various root vegetables like parsnips, turnips, and occasionally sweet potatoes. I really wish I had a picture of my soup, but food photography is just not my thing. :( I will however include my recipe at the end of this post. 

I prefer to use the meat from a roasted chicken *** because it freezes really well. So you can roast it, keep it in the fridge if you are going to use it right away, or once it cools toss it the freezer where it will keep for up to 3 months. The shredded chicken will break apart really easily once frozen, so you can just use a few handfuls straight from the freezer whenever you are ready to make your soup. It's quick, easy, nourishing and delicious! 

Quick word on variations...

There are no rules for chicken soup (except for the one about using homemade stock/broth ;) ). You can use whatever vegetables you like best. I have lovely memories of my mother serving it with fresh homemade bread, but you can also add noodles or rice if you tolerate that kind of thing. So below I will share my go-to vegetable combination/method, and if you try it be sure to let me know what you think! 

If you would like to learn more about food energetics or any other of the topics covered in this post comment below or send me an email.

Well wishes for the weekend,

-Amara

***If you use the recipe linked for roasted chicken, use real butter instead of margarine!