Monday, October 1, 2012

Chicken & 'Rice' Soup - 4.5g

"Sipping once,
Sipping twice,
Sipping chicken soup with rice"
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months
 

It was a bleak, rainy day today, and all I could think about at work was coming home, putting on my sweats and cuddling up on the couch with a bowl of hot chicken (noodle? rice?) soup. Of course, noodles and rice don't go well with a diet that avoids wheat, gluten and other foods that spike your blood sugar, so it was back to the drawing board for me.

(My drawing board happens to be my refrigerator...)

I had asparagus and frozen spinach, which reminded me of the Asparagus & Leek Soup at Amelie's French Bakery in Charlotte, NC.  This soup is melt in your mouth good (can I say that if it's already in soup form?). I decided to use it as a bit of inspiration.

The cauliflower in my drawer also sparked an idea. I've 'riced' cauliflower before for the Cauliflower Pizza and the Fried Rice dishes I've made in the past... perhaps I could rice the cauliflower for a soup? *A side note: when ricing the cauliflower with a food processor, it creates very tiny, much smaller than rice pieces. To create a more 'rice-like' effect for the soup, I finely chopped the cauliflower instead.

At the end of the process, I had a very flavorful, nutritious and low-carb soup that hit the spot on this gloom & chill-filled day!  

Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 C cauliflower florets
1 C asparagus, chopped into 3/4 in pieces
1 package frozen chopped spinach
4 C chicken broth
2 C water
2 large chicken breasts
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp minced garlic

Add the butter, olive oil and onions to a pan, and turn on to medium-low heat to sweat the onions for about 3 minutes.  Next, add the cauliflower and continue to sweat for another 3 minutes or so. Last, add the asparagus and cook for another couple of minutes.

The next step is to add the frozen spinach, water and chicken broth. Turn up the heat to about medium and let this simmer while you cube the chicken into small 1 inch cubes. Add the chicken and garlic, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Last, before adding the salt, take a taste test.  I used low sodium chicken broth, so mine needed an extra boost after adding all the veggies and additional water. Add the salt, a 1/2 tsp at a time in order to avoid making it too salty!

This soup made 8-9 servings, and is full of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that belong in a fall/winter soup - and sans the blood-sugar spiking carbs!

Curl up and enjoy...


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