Imagine infusing your home with the succulent aroma of simmering, comforting chicken broth, ginger, turmeric, garlic and tasty, fulfilling vegetables…as well as super charging your immunity with this wholesome and time-tested meal.
As I made a huge pot of this soup for my entire family as they were all home during the COVID-19 “lock-down” phase, I could not fit all ingredients into my pressure cooker at once. Hence the 2 pot approach below…
Immuno-Boost Soup
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Eat Holistic LLC
Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
- CHICKEN BROTH
- 1 whole organic chicken
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- ¼ cup sliced fresh ginger root, unpeeled
- 1 thumb-sized piece of Kombu / Kelp seaweed
- 1 large stick of Astragalus root (best obtained from a dedicated herb shop)
- Whole seed pods: 5 green cardamom pods, 1 TBSP fennel seeds, 1 TBSP coriander seeds, 5-6 whole black peppercorns, 4 whole juniper berries, 3 anise stars, 3 bay leaves
- Water to cover
- VEGETABLE BASE
- This was started off initially in a separate pot as I wanted to make a large quantity in a short period of time. Once the finished chicken broth was filtered and captured as a clear liquid, I added copious amounts of the aromatic broth to this pot, as well as shredded chicken pieces from the cooked chicken.
- 2 TBSP organic Ghee (clarified butter)
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced fine
- 2 large onions, peeled and chopped fine
- 2 cups celery stalks, sliced fine
- 1 carton of mushrooms (any), chopped fine
- 3-4 stalks of leeks, sliced fine
- 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes (I used the white fleshy ones)
- 4 carrots, grated
- ½ head of a medium-sized cauliflower, chopped fine
- 1 cup quinoa seeds, rinsed
- ½ cup millet seeds, rinsed
- SPICES: 1 TBSP celtic sea salt, 10-15 swirls with black pepper mill, 2 TBSP turmeric, 1 TBSP ground Paprika, 1 TBSP Tamari wheat-free Soy Sauce
Instructions
- CHICKEN BROTH
- Cook in pressure cooker for 20 minutes, then switch off heat source. Allow pressure to reduce by itself, not via the short cut and the valve in the lid. It takes about another 20-30 minutes to do so.
- Take out the chicken, allow to cool in na bowl before taking it apart, it will fall off the bone.
- Chop chicken meat as finely as possible.
- You will need about half for the soup, the other half can be stored in the fridge and used elsewhere.
- VEGETABLE BASE
- Sweat onions for about 5 min in the ghee in a large pot, add garlic and sizzle for 2-3 minutes
- Add all ingredients and spices, combine well
- Add water, just enough to cover ingredients as will add chicken broth later once that is cooked
- Allow to boil, then reduce heat to simmer gently until vegetables are still firm to the bite, about 15-20 minutes after the boil.
- Once you have it, add the strained chicken broth and chopped chicken.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
- This soup keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
- You will have extra chicken broth which can also be frozen in mason jars for future use. Make sure to keep about 1.5 inches between the lid and the top of the broth to allow it to expand during the freezing process and prevent it from shattering the mason jar. Yup, speaking from personal experience!
