There’s no sugar added in this delightful soup, though it’s hard to believe. The caramelized onions and sweet potatoes naturally lend just the right sweetness for this dish.
In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt butter on medium heat. Add onions and sprinkle with a little salt. Stir occasionally until onion in softened. Lower heat and continue to cook the onions, stirring occasionally until the they onions are mostly brown. At this time, add the garlic and spices. Stir and continue to cook for a few more minutes until fragrant.
Pour in chicken stock and add diced sweet potatoes. Add a little water if necessary to cover the sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender and easily pierced with a fork or knife.
Turn off the heat and blend using an immersion blender, or work in batches and puree in a blender. Once the soup is pureed. Taste it and add any salt to taste.
Serve with Wholesome Soaked Cornbread!
Nutrient dense, homemade chicken stock simmered with real vegetables and contains real chicken flavors without the chicken. Nothing beats that delicious, lip smacking gelatin from a true bone broth.
Sautee onion, carrots and celery in butter until softened. Add garlic, salt pepper and stock. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add noodles and peas, simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of stock into kefir cream to loosen up and add cream to soup, add parsley and serve. Don’t rush through, take your time and enjoy.
This curried pumpkin soup is almost sweet because of the naturally occurring sugar in the pumpkin and because of the slightly sweet undertones that come with coconut milk. This soup is subtle and satisfying, creamy and rich, with garlic, curry powder and cilantro as a finishing touch.
Heat the oil in a heavy soup pan, medium-low heat.
Add the curry, ginger, cumin and red pepper flakes.
Stir for a couple of minutes while the seasonings roast and become fragrant. Do not walk away! They can burn in a flash and you will have to start over. Add the garlic and stir for a moment. Do not let the garlic brown. The flavor will overpower this delicate soup if you do.
Pour the soup stock into the spice mixture and stir well. Loosen anything that may be sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Put the pumpkin puree in the blender and add the soup stock. It should just fit. Blend well.
Warm the coconut milk in the soup pan and then add the blended pumpkin and soup stock. Salt with fish sauce or sea salt according to your own taste.
Serve with a sprinkling of finely minces cilantro on the top. The green of the cilantro sparkles against the orange hue of the soup. It also adds a subtle earthy quality.
A delicious real food, gluten-free version of broccoli cheese soup- just perfect for the cooler days of Autumn and Winter!
Add the butter to a large stock pot over medium high heat until melted. Add onions, carrots and celery and sauté until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add broccoli and stir to coat well with butter. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper and white pepper. Add broth and optional wine. Turn up the heat, bring to a low boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook covered (with lid on) until broccoli pieces are soft, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. With an immersion/stick blender, puree soup to desired consistency, or process in a regular blender, in batches, taking care not to burn yourself. Return to pot, off heat, stir in cream, dijon, nutmeg and cheese. Stir to combine and melt cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings. If soup needs to be reheated, reheat slowly and do not allow it to come to a boil. Serve immediately.
On GAPS? If you use creme fraiche and cheddar cheese, this soup is GAPS friendly, as long as you tolerate dairy. Double check the ingredients on your dijon mustard to make sure it’s GAPS legal, or simply omit.
A delicious, slightly sweet-flavoured autumn soup. Great as a starter, or as a complete meal, with crusty bread.
Melt butter in a large saucepan with olive oil. Lightly brown onions and garlic, then add chopped pumpkin. Add curry powder, salt and pepper, then add stock. Let simmer about 35 minutes, until pumpkin is softened. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then blend with an immersion blender, until smooth. Reheat if necessary and serve topped with chopped parsley (if your children don’t mind green things floating on their soup!!)
This traditional Thai soup is a favorite of ours, but it’s hard to trust the ingredients in restaurant versions. Sadly, many of the traditional ethnic restaurants have stopped using nutrient-dense foods and have jumped on the processed food bandwagon.
This version uses homemade chicken stock made from pastured chicken, nutrient-dense coconut milk and a variety of natural ingredients that have incredible flavors- lemongrass, galangal (a Thai ginger), kaffir lime leaves and chilies. This real-food recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free! Tom Kha Kai is a gorgeous blend of spicy, sweet, sour, salty and earthy flavors. If you’ve never tried it before, I highly suggest that you do- it’s incredibly delicious and soul-satisfying!
Bruise lemongrass, galangal and garlic clove by striking with the flat side of a large knife, a meat tenderizer or mallet. You want the juices to release into the stock.
In a medium stockpot, bring chicken stock, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and garlic clove to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add in coconut milk, chilies, fish sauce (start with 2 TBL and work up- saltiness varies by brands), coconut sugar or sucanat, and red curry paste (can adjust to taste). Simmer 10 minutes more.
Pour soup through a strainer and into a large bowl. You want to remove the large pieces of herbs, etc. Return strained soup back to stockpot. Add in chicken and mushrooms and cook about 8-10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro leaves. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Fish sauce is salty, lime juice is sour, chilies are heat and sugar is sweetness. It should be nicely balanced.
NOTES:
I’ve used leftover roasted chicken, cubed or shredded and it works great. No need to cook for as long at the end – maybe just 5 minutes.
I usually use red chilies that have been frozen in individual 1 tsp. serving size cubes. They stay in the freezer and it’s easy to pop one or two in. You can also use red pepper flakes if you have no other options.
While many of these ingredients seem exotic, most can be easily picked up at a well-stocked supermarket, like Whole Foods. Make sure to read ingredients carefully on items like fish sauce and curry paste. You are looking for pure ingredients with no chemical additives, veggie oils, GMOs or any other nasties.
Galangal is one of the more challenging ingredients to find. While ginger is a poor substitute for the earthiness of galangal, I’ve made it with ginger before and it was still a very tasty soup. (It’s just not Tom Kha) Just roughly peel a large piece of ginger root (you just want to expose the flesh- it doesn’t have to be perfect) and then smash it a few times as described in step one. Add it when you would add the galangal.
Traditionally, this soup is not strained and is served with all the large chunks of lemongrass, etc in it. I prefer not to eat around these items and feel it’s messy to eat, especially when serving to kiddos. So, I strain it, then add in my chicken and mushrooms. It’s a more pleasurable eating experience and all the flavors are still there.
If you prefer to use something other than chicken, go for it. Tom Kha Goong is the same soup but with prawns (shrimp) in place of the chicken. Tom Kha Hed is with additional mushrooms instead of the chicken. Feel free to use mixed seafood- calamari, fish, shrimp- yum! Just add your seafood closer to the end and don’t overcook.
Just like American chicken soup, Caldo de Pollo is a traditional family recipe (and thus has many variations), is a treasured comfort food and is definitely a nutrient-dense meal with healing properties. Unlike American chicken soup, however, this soup is a little spicy and packed with delicious vegetables. This is not tortilla soup, but a true chicken soup. The smell in the house while this is cooking is simply intoxicating!
A hearty meal served on its own, buttered properly prepared (like sprouted) corn tortillas would be an acceptable side dish, along with guacamole. Because this is a family recipe, there are many variations- some people include corn in their soup, and sometimes other veggies are used in addition to or in place of the ones I typically use. We almost never add the potatoes or rice, but I’ve listed them in case you’d like to include them. I’ve made it this way for years now and we love it, but feel free to experiment!
In a ramekin or small dish, make your spice blend. Start with about ½ – 1 TBL salt and add garlic powder (not garlic salt) and black, red and white peppers to your liking. Add cumin, chili powder and paprika. (adjust to your liking)
Season cubed chicken breast with a pinch or two of your seasoning blend- as desired.
In a bit of butter, pastured lard or coconut oil, brown and cook chicken over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or stockpot until chicken is tender. Add onions and sauté lightly. Add a touch more fat if needed.
Add cabbage, potatoes (if using), zucchini, carrots, garlic and tomatoes and the remaining seasoning blend from the ramekin. Stir to coat all evenly and cover to sweat the veggies for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking/burning and add a touch of chicken broth if liquid from veggies is not sufficient. You don’t want to add too much or the veggies will boil and not sweat their flavors.
After 10-15 minutes, the veggies will have reduced by about half the volume. Add the remaining chicken broth, stir, add rice (if using), stir and cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Add cilantro during the last couple minutes of cooking. Garnish with a lime wedge and serve with avocado slices if desired.
* On Gaps? Potatoes and rice are easily left out.
This soup is Autumn in a bowl. I was going to wait until later in the fall to post it, but our weather today has been so sublime, I just had to share. I have a butternut squash in my pantry now just waiting to be transformed into this lusciousness. The molasses is optional, but adds a nice hint of smokiness. Warming ginger rounds out the baking spices nicely and fresh thyme gives everything a little bit of an earthy, woodsy flavor. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut butternut squash in half, removing seeds and strings. Place on rimmed baking sheet or in glass Pyrex, skin side down. Drizzle flesh with oil and season with baking spices- cinnamon and nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice to your liking. Roast for 1 hour or until soft. Remove squash from oven and scoop out pulp. Discard skins.
While squash is baking, brown bacon or pancetta in a large stockpot. Remove from pan- save for garnishing soup. Leave bacon grease in pan, removing any excess over about 2 TBL. Add butter. Add shallots (or onions) and apples and sauté until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, being careful not to burn it.
Add roasted butternut squash flesh. Season with unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, white pepper and additional cinnamon, nutmeg, (or pumpkin pie spice) and ginger. Add thyme leaves, reserving some for garnish. Add chicken broth- amount will depend upon how big your squash was (how much squash flesh you have) and the desired consistency of your soup. Start with about 2 cups, adding more if needed.
Allow to cook about 5 minutes. Using an immersion blender (or a traditional blender, working in batches) puree soup to desired consistency. Return to pot, if blender was used, adjust seasonings to taste, and add maple syrup and molasses (if using). Warm soup if it has cooled, but do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in cream or crème fraiche. Serve with additional dollop of crème fraiche, dot of maple syrup, thyme leaves and crisped bacon or pancetta.
*On GAPS? Simply use honey to sweeten this soup and stick with creme fraiche if you tolerate dairy (it’s cultured) or use coconut cream (from the top of the can or what rises to the top when you make your own coconut milk) if you are dairy-free.
* No thyme? Try rosemary, sage or chives. If you fry sage leaves in a bit of butter or ghee, they will be a delightful accompaniment to this soup. (Make sure to save that butter that you fried the leaves in- it’s amazing over chicken or fish, especially if it’s all nice and browned)
Sweet coconut milk and spicy chilies are a fabulous combination. This soup will warm you from head to toe. Perfect to use up all of that leftover summer.
In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt butter. Add chopped onions, bell peppers and Anaheims (if using fresh) and saute until onions are translucent. Add carrots and spices and saute another 5 minutes.
Slowly, pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add tomatoes and kale. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or use a hand-held blender. Put soup back in the pot and add coconut milk. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add salt to taste and serve.
This is an easy, yummy soup that is very satisfying. I used my homemade beef stock, so it was a very dense, nutrient-rich soup.
Sauté onions, garlic, zucchini and squash until tender. Put all remaining ingredients including sautéed vegetables in a large pot and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour (or put in a slow cooker and cook for several hours).
This sweet and slightly spicy creamy chowder is perfect in a sourdough bread bowl or accompanied by a sandwich on a chilly rainy day.
In a large heavy pot cook the chopped up bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the fat and reserve for later. Add the butter to the bacon fat, and saute the onion until translucent. Add in the carrots and celery and saute. Add the flour and stir to cook the flour. Pour in the stock/water to deglaze the bottom of the pot and then add the potatoes and corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in all of the spices and herbs. Cover and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaves, and add the heavy cream. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot topped with shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, green onions or whatever toppings you choose.
Cook’s Note: For a sweet variation, use coconut milk instead of cream and add 1 cup of golden raisins, and 1/2 cup of chopped pistachios!
A thick, rich crock-pot potato soup that your family will love.
Place the onion and potato in a crock-pot and cover with the chicken stock. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the potatoes are tender. Uncover and mash until the soup is of the consistency you like- we enjoy only small chunks left. Add the remaining ingredients and re-cover (or leave uncovered if you’d like the soup to thicken a bit). Cook on low until thoroughly heated. Adjust salt and garlic, if needed, before serving.