Super Green Soup

I don't know about you, but I have trouble eating a salad when the temperature outside is hovering in the single digits. (By the way, if I had wanted to experience an arctic climate, I would have chosen to live in Alaska. Not Maryland. Last I checked, this was the Mid-Atlantic, people. Whoever started this polar vortex is not my friend.) During the winter months, I tend to crave soups and stews and warm, tummy-filling dishes.

My latest soup is a delicious, detoxifying, ultra-nutritious, health-boosting emerald green concoction. I used three green veggies to make it, but you could easily substitute different ones. Kale would be an awesome choice, as well as green peas. Broccoli would be great in this soup, too. I just grabbed the ingredients I had on hand. The turmeric, ginger, and garlic are all great for boosting your immunity and overall health. If you have the sniffles, this soup will cure you.

I recommend making your own soup stock. Boiling down a chicken carcass is a great way to extract flavor as well as extra nutrition from scraps which might normally go to waste. I have also made bone broth from beef and lamb bones. The longer you simmer large bones, the more minerals and protein you will extract from the bones and cartilage. This can be done overnight, or for several days, in a slow cooker. A chicken carcass only needs to simmer for a couple of hours.

Ingredients:

1 leftover roasted chicken carcass (you can leave the remaining meat on the bones)
1 inch knob of ginger root, sliced

Cover the carcass with cold water and bring to a boil. Throw in the ginger. Simmer over low heat for 1-2 hours, until falling apart. Remove bones and ginger. Discard ginger. Pull all meat from bones and set aside.

4 large garlic cloves
4 cups shredded zucchini (I shred and freeze zucchini from my garden.)
1 package frozen asparagus spears (or fresh)
1 package fresh baby spinach (or frozen, chopped)
1 leftover, cooked Yukon Gold potato (optional)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Throw all of the above into the simmering stock. Cook over medium heat for at least 30 minutes, or until everything is tender. (You can wait to add fresh spinach until the last minute.) Blend with immersion blender for several minutes until all veggies and garlic are pureed. Your soup will be bright green! (The potato works as a thickener and gives the soup more body, but it can be eliminated if you do not eat Nightshade veggies.)

Serving options: add a dab of grassfed butter on top, or a spoonful of sour cream, or Greek yogurt. Top with shredded chicken. (Adding dairy is completely optional. Coconut milk would work perfectly as a substitute.)

Enjoy!