Feel the lurgy coming on? Fight it off with this delicious, immune boosting chicken soup

immune boosting chicken soup from scratch

How’s everyone  going with all these nasty viruses going around? I know my family have all copped it, especially me! I usually don’t catch colds and flus, but had to take two aggressive antibiotics earlier this year and ever since, my immune system has been shot and I’ve caught everything going. Being a nutritionist, I prefer not to take antibiotics but when you have a parasite, sometimes there isn’t an effective alternative.

So, to boost my immune system and prevent me from getting anymore nasty lurgies (while helping me to recover from this latest one), I’m getting into this delicious and nutritious wholefood chicken soup. And it’s SO easy, the only way I’ll do it! Oh, and it’s also anti-inflammatory and good for your aching muscles and joints. Here’s the recipe…

Immune boosting chicken soup

Perfect for restoring your immune system in times of stress or illness

Gluten free, dairy free, nutrient dense

add cooked brown rice and baby spinach for a heartier meal… so delicious!

Ingredients

1 large onion, roughly chopped, peel on

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

½ head celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 tsp each ground cumin, coriander seed, paprika and black pepper

2 tsp ground turmeric

3 cloves garlic, smashed, peel on

3 cm knob ginger, roughly chopped

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp good quality sea salt

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 kg whole free range chicken

Method

Fry onions in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, garlic, ginger, coriander root and stem and spices and fry for a couple more minutes until a little colour forms on the base of the pot. Pour in apple cider vinegar to de-glaze the pan (work the bottom of the pot with a wooden spatula to lift off the brown bits and stir them into the veggies – that’s your flavour!).

Add whole chook and enough water to just cover. Add salt and put lid on, bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 50 – 60 minutes. Remove chook and let cool a little. Once cool, pull all the meat off the bones, discarding skin and bones. Shred chicken meat finely with fingers or a fork.

Drain soup well over another pot, keeping the liquid and discarding the vegetables.

Add chicken back into the pot of soup with roughly chopped coriander leaves. Serve!

For a heartier meal, add some cooked brown rice and baby spinach leaves.