Chicken Tortilla(less) Soup

Back when Jim and I were first married and I began eating meat again, I found that I loved Chicken Tortilla Soup. Once we went Paleo, I had to remove the black beans, the tortillas, and corn. Over the years it has been tweaked a bit, but here’s the current recipe – perfect for the winter.

RECIPE:

Chicken Tortilla(less) Soup

cleaneatingwithkatie
This is a fall and winter staple at our house. The tangy-spicy taste is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 8 people

Equipment

  • mixer (hand or stand)

Ingredients
  

Soup Ingredients

  • 2.5 lbs chicken breasts pasture raised
  • 24 oz chicken bone broth
  • 32 oz fire roasted tomatoes
  • 4 med. carrots sliced
  • 6 celery stalks sliced
  • 1 med. onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 limes juiced
  • 1 tbsp cooking fat butter, ghee, etc.
  • 2 tbsp cilantro chiffonade, optional garnish
  • 2 avocados diced, optional garnish

Spice Blend

  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ground pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp chili powder or to taste
  • ½ tsp cayenne or to taste
  • ½ tsp dried oregano

Instructions
 

Directions:

  • Saute onions and garlic over medium-high heat in a large soup pot with 1 tsp cooking fat. Once translucent, add in celery and carrots cooking and stirring for about 1 minute. 
  • Add both cans of diced tomatoes, bone broth, and chicken. Bring to a boil. Add in spices and stir. Once it come to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temp of 165° F. Remove from heat. 
  • Shred chicken using one of the methods below. Then add chicken back to soup, stir, and add lime juice. Garnish as desired. 

Shredding Chicken

  • Handmixer: add cooked chicken to a large bowl and turn on the mixer at a low speed. This will shred the chicken – voila! Caution – hot chicken bits might fly about your kitchen. 
  • Stand mixer: using the paddle attachment, add cooked chicken to the stand mixer and turn on low. Increase the speed only 1-2 levels. This will also shred the kitchen EASY PEASY. Caution – hot chicken bits might fly about your kitchen. 
Keyword chicken, chicken soup, chicken tortilla soup, dairy free, paleo




Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash soup is something that I could eat nearly everyday during the winter months. Hearty, filling, healthy, and delicious. I found a recipe for it about 5 years ago, and since then, I’ve tweaked it to make it my own. I found the act of peeling the butternut squash simply ridiculous. It is insanely hard to peel a raw butternut squash. Then, while in Miami, a friend ordered some butternut squash at a restaurant and it arrived roasted with the skin on. MIND BLOWN. I decided then to stop peeling the squash for these three reasons. 1) It’s way too hard, 2) I’m going to puree the soup with an immersion blender anyways, and 3) the skin is where the nutrients are! So here is my favorite recipe for butternut squash soup. Enjoy!

  1.  

Butternut Squash Soup

cleaneatingwithkatie
Butternut squash soup is one of my favorite fall and winter meals. I usually pair it with a sausage and then I have a balanced meal. Because you don't have to spend time peeling the butternut squash, this recipe is that much sweeter!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • immersion blender (or food processor or blender)

Ingredients
  

Ingredients

  • 1 large butternut squash seeded and coarsely chopped
  • 6 celery stalks diced
  • 6 carrots diced
  • 1 med. onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic diced
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tbsp grass-fed butter
  • 2 cups chicken bone broth

Spice Blend

  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garlic sea salt
  • fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 2 lemons juiced
  • 2 tbsp cilantro optional garnish
  • 1 tbsp grass-fed sour cream optional garnish

Instructions
 

  • Place a vegetable steamer in a large stock pot. Add water, butter, and butternut squash. Steam the butternut squash until pierced easily with a knife.
  • Once steamed, place squash in stock pot (leave water in pot). Add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. 
  • Add all of the spices. Keep at simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
  • Use an immersion blender to purée soup (a regular blender or food processor will also work).  Add lemon juice (don't skip the acid step!). Serve with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt and garnish with cilantro.
Keyword butternut squash soup, paleo, soup

Onions are a good source of vitamins C and B6, potassium, and manganese. They are also rich in antioxidants, particularly quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin, which all play a role in cancer prevention. Onions also help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Carrots are good sources of vitamins A, C, B6 & K, biotin, potassium, thiamine, and fiber. They are also rich in antioxidants and good source of starchy carbohydrates.

Butternut Squash is a good source of antioxidant carotenoids, vitamins C, B1, B6, folic acid, and pantothenic acid. It is also a good source of potassium, manganese, and fiber. Dark-fleshed winter squash is shown to be protective against cancer, especially lung cancer, heart disease, and and type II diabetes.

The 52 New Food Challenge – Peaches

Welp, I’ve fallen off the wagon. The “post a new food each week” wagon. But this week I’m getting back on the wagon. Rather than trying to play catch up for about 2-3 months worth of foods, I’m just going to start with the current food of the week: PEACHES!!

Jennifer Tyler Lee suggests that you grill peaches (I’ve done this: YUM!), make peach ice cream, or try making fruit leather. Recently I made some paleo turkey meatballs with Thai chili and peach jam. Jim said, “the peaches are what make this dish!”. 

A little background: I started this challenge to encourage myself, a notoriously picky eater, to try and to LIKE more foods. This is my first post on the blog, but I’ve been posting these since December 2014 on my Facebook page and my Instagram page. I was a very picky eater as a kid, and although, I’m much less picky now, there are still more vegetables that I would like to ENJOY eating. From personal experience, I’ve found that the more often that I am exposed to a vegetable, the more I like it. This has been my experience with Kale, Beets, Tomatoes, and Cilantro.

Food Facts:

  • Peaches and nectarines are identical except for one gene – the “fuzziness” gene (it also happens to affect a couple of other minor traits)
  • Nectarines can spontaneously appear on peach trees and vice versa (WOW!)
  • Stone fruits, including peaches, are picked when unripe and continue ripening after being picked but if not kept in ideal conditions, they become mealy, brown, leathery, or dry. This is what causes most conventional grocery store peaches to leave people feeling disappointed. (read: buy your peaches at the farmers’ market)
  • White-fleshed peaches and nectarines have more antioxidants than yellow-fleshed peaches and nectarines
  • The white-fleshed fruits are also sweeter
  • Peaches and nectarines are consistently on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list, so you should buy organic and eat the skins (it is the most nutritious part)
  • Peaches and nectarines are good sources of vitamins A, C, and E, potassium, niacin, and copper. Peaches are also a good source of vitamin K and manganese
  • Good source of fiber
  • High in antioxidants – especially carotenoids and flavonoids (white-fleshed have less carotenoids)
  • Peach extract has been shown to inhibit breast cancer cell growth
  • They help to protect against Heart Disease, Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome

From The 52 New Food Challenge by Jennifer Tyler Lee, The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno, and Super Foods by Tonia Reinhard

Health & Hugs <3,

Katie

peaches - in season in august
Peaches – In season, in August