I love to make this soup whenever I feel a chill in the air or I am starting to feel that I am in need of some TLC. It is warm grounding medicine in a bowl. The chicken soup has healing herbs and spices to nourish your immunity to keep you healthy or support your healing if you are feeling under the weather.
If you are looking for information on some cold and flu remedies, please check out this post.
4-6 chicken thighs bone in with skin removed
Who doesn’t love an aromatic bowl of hot soup?
1 medium onion chopped
2 medium leeks chopped and thoroughly rinsed to remove all sand and grit
2-3 carrots chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
1 red pepper chopped
About 2” piece of fresh ginger finely minced
About 4 cloves of fresh garlic finely minced
6-8 sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 bunch each of Italian parsley, cilantro and dill (chopped including the stems!)
1-2 roasted hatch green chile chopped (it’s a New Mexico thing that is hard to replicate with any other type of chile pepper. You may be able to find canned hatch green chile in your market)
1 small to medium zucchini or yellow squash
4 bay leaves
6 slices of dried Astragulus root
1 Tbs turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp fennel
6 whole black pepper corns
6 Sichuan pepper corns
4+ star anise
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Tea kettle of boiling water
Preheat heavy bottomed stock pot over medium heat. Coat inside bottom of pot with olive oil. Add chopped onions and a pinch of salt. Stir and allow to cook until onions are translucent. Add leeks and another pinch of salt, stir and continue to cook until leeks start to wilt. Add chopped carrots, onions, celery, red bell pepper, another pinch of salt and allow to sauté for a few minutes. Add chopped garlic, ginger and shiitake mushrooms. Give a stir and allow to cook for another couple of minutes. Add bay leaves and other herbs stir to coat the vegetable mixture and now add a tea kettle of boiling water. Place chicken pieces in stock and add parsley, cilantro, dill, hatch green chile and zucchini. Give the pot a good stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to simmer and put lid on pot and cook for about 30-45 minutes. Pull chicken from pot, allow to cool enough to handle so you can shred or chop and return to pot. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Note: remove bay leaves and Astragulus before serving.
I love to make this soup on a chilly winter’s day or when I feel like I may be coming down with a cold. It has many immune boosting properties without over taxing your digestion so your body can combat whatever pathogens have entered your system, be it colds, flu or even allergies.
The spices used in this recipe do not just impart flavor, they have medicinal properties as well!
2-3 cups of mushrooms, I used a combination of Shitake and white button mushrooms
6 pieces of Astragulus root
2 Bay leaves
2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 cup of Pearl Barley – rinsed and drained
50 oz. of boiling stock or boiling water
Salt & Pepper
Preparation:
Heat a heavy bottom stock pot over medium heat and gently toast the rosemary, caraway and cumin seeds. Once you begin to smell the spices releasing their fragrant oils, add just olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pot. Add chopped onions and a little salt to help the onions sweat out their liquid. Give a stir and cook until the onions become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about two minutes. Add the mushrooms and a little salt and fresh ground pepper and give everything a stir. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks to the bottoms of the pot. Add barley, bay leaves and turmeric powder ensuring that everything is well mixed together. Add stock or water and bring everything to a boil, reduce heat and cover with lid. Cook for about an hour or until the barley is cooked through. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Remove bay leaves and Astragulus before serving.
Ut Oh!!! You feel it coming on. You are tired, irritable and then your body feels achy and your throat is scratchy…………….NOOOOOO!!!! There is no time to be sick, I have too many things that I need to do!!!!!
We have all been there. We ignore our body’s subtle signs until you have to listen and provide it some love or else you are going down and will be forced to rest.
Winter seems to be the worst. We spend too many hours indoors and not enough time in nature. Our heating system dries out our mucus membranes. There are holiday parties with foods that do not support our digestive system and air travel to spend time with family. All of these things weaken our immune system and unless you are doing something to nourish yourself and support your immune system you will catch a bug.
NIP IT IN THE BUD
When I have over-extended myself and I feel that I am getting achy or a scratchy throat, I up my vitamin C, add zinc and an echinacea tincture. I make myself some freshly sliced ginger tea with a little drizzle of raw local honey and make the time to get more rest and sleep. Usually that in itself will stop me from getting a fully blown cold.
Usually during this time of year I also make sure that I take a shot of firecider every day. There are a lot of recipes out there and you can easily make your own and it will keep for a long time as long as you do not add honey until you are going to use it. It is helpful in maintaining your immunity and can help lessen the severity of any cold that you may catch. There are some great brands that you can find in your local herbal shop, just read the ingredients.
To help soothe my dry nasal passage, I like to use nasaya which is an Ayurvedic nasal therapy of special medicated oils used to clear the sinuses.
I am not one to use hand sanitizer, but during the winter when everyone around is feeling unwell, I take advantage of the wipes at the grocery store on my shopping cart handle and keep a little bottle of hand sanitizer in my bag and use whenever I cannot wash my hands with warm soapy water.
Don’t rub your eyes or touch your face with your dirty hands! It is so easy for those pesky germs to get into your body through your eyes, nose and mouth!
Get outside and take a walk, expand your lungs fully to breathe in some fresh clean air!
CONGESTION AND COUGH
When I get congested I will put a few drops of Eucalyptus essential oil on a washcloth on my shower floor and inhale. Rosemary essential oil works equally well to open the bronchi. A word of caution: do not put essential oils directly on the floor of your tub or shower as this will create a slippery floor and could lead to a fall.
Fresh pineapple has bromelain which is really good at breaking up congestion and drinking fresh pineapple juice also can help with cough.
SLOW COOKED, SOUPY, STEWY FOODS
I will give my body a break so it doesn’t have to work hard to digest food. Simple broths and soups with nourishing herbs and spices are all I need to help me heal. To keep from getting more congested stay away from creamy soups made with dairy.
Generally when we are sick, we don’t have too much of an appetite. It is our body’s way to divert our internal energy to fighting those germs and get them out. We just need to pay attention to ensure that we do no dehydrate ourselves so we can flush those toxins out of our system.
When I feel that I might be getting sick, I love to make myself a lovely pot of chicken soup (AKA Jewish penicillin). There is something comforting about it and the herbs and spices add an additional punch to help my body rebuild immunity.
You may also want to peruse my blog for allergy season as colds and allergies should be treated similarly. Both are due to unwanted pathogens in your body.
SOME HERBS TRADITIONALLY USED TO HELP WITH COLDS AND BUILD IMMUNITY
Here are some of my favorite herbs with their healing properties for colds that are good to keep on hand in your kitchen apothecary.
Red or Green Chile – a staple here in New Mexico that most people have in their freezers. Loaded with Vitamin C it also acts as an analgesic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, diaphoretic, expectorant, circulatory stimulant.
I hope that you found value in what you have learned to help you and your family to lessen the severity of any colds and keep your immunity up! Be well!
Vibrant Health by Brenda Bodnar 