Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup - Paleo and Slow Cooker Style

Cooking is easy...recipe writing is a giant pain in my backside!

First of all - I am rarely satisfied and have no idea how to cook a little bit of anything.  So...when I decided I needed a hearty Paleo Chicken Soup recipe - I made a big ole pot.  We had it for dinner.  I had it the next day for lunch.  It was good.

But it wasn't great.  AND, I wanted a soup I could make in my slow cooker.  Of course that meant another giant pot and a few more splatters on the paper I was trying to capture the recipe on and soup for lunch and dinner once again...This version was better.  Really good.

But not "creamy"...which, in a world devoid of dairy and gluten, can be a challenge.  Just because our bodies can't tolerate dairy and gluten doesn't mean our bodies don't crave rich, creamy soups.

Enter my produce Super Hero - Cauliflower!

Cauliflower stands in beautifully for rice, for popcorn, for mashed potatoes, for all starchy cravings.  And, in the hands of this owner of a brand-new Christmas immersion blender- turns really good Chicken Soup into totally satisfying, hearty, CREAMY Chicken Vegetable Soup!  Dun-da-Dah (sing that like a superhero entrance jingle, please!).

 

 

 

version #3 notes

 This required another huge batch of soup (split into 2 crock pots for some spice variations), more splatters, another sheet of paper, more notes, tasting, seasoning and more soup for dinner for the whole family and lunch for me...and lunch again!  Did I mention it was totally satisfying?  Hearty?  Creamy?  Yeah, I can eat more of that for dinner (and lunch)!!!

I have to admit, this isn't your classic "dump it all into the crock pot and walk away" easy recipe, but it's February, it's cold outside, it's cold and flu season and it's an American classic (Paleo-style) for goodness sake!  All that to say - it's worth the extra pot to wash and extra steps.  Extra bonus - it freezes well.  I just had the serving that I popped in the freezer...good stuff!  (this is a BIG recipe - it makes just over a gallon of soup (all the way to the top of my big slow cooker) - but if you're going to cook - make extra and freeze some for later)

Here's how it worked the third time around (third time's the charm, my mother used to say):

Ingredients:

1 1/2 T coconut oil or ghee
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 stalks celery, sliced
5-6 carrots, sliced
1 red bell pepper, large dice
1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (1")
3 bay leaves
2 t dried oregano
1 t turmeric
1-2 t Herbs de Provence
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice
3 c chicken bone broth or gluten-free, sugar-free, organic chicken stock
1 c water
1/2 c full fat coconut milk

1.  In the bottom of a dutch oven, melt the coconut oil over medium heat.  Saute the onions until they become translucent.  Add the spices (except for the bay leaves) and garlic and stir to combine.
2.  Add the chicken bone broth or stock and stir to combine. 

You can freeze half for later*

3.  Add the chopped cauliflower to the bot and bring it to a boil.
4.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork-tender and turn off the heat.
5.  Using an immersion blender, "buzz" the mixture until it is smooth and silky.
6.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.
7.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir in the coconut milk
8.  Ladle enough of the cauliflower mixture to cover the bottom of your slow cooker.
9.  Lay the chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker crock
10.  Add the chopped celery, bell pepper, sweet potatoes, carrots and bay leaves.
11.  Pour the remaining cauliflower mixture over the top, stirring to combine and cover.  (You may need to add more bone broth, stock or water at this point to get your soup to the consistency you prefer.)
12.  Cook on low for 6 hours (this really depends on how big your carrot slices are and how thick the chicken breast are) the carrots (all the vegetables, really) should be fork-tender and the chicken breasts need to register 160° on an instant read thermometer.
13.  Remove the chicken breasts and shred them with 2 forks, leaving some bigger pieces for that homemade, hearty texture.
14.  Place the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker, stir, taste for seasoning, cover and let cook for an additional 30 minutes to an hour on low.

The blended cauliflower and coconut milk turn this basic chicken and veggie soup into a rich, creamy "stoup"...you know, a cross between a stew and a soup?! 

By the way - if you don't own an immersion blender, place the cauliflower mixture (at step #5) in small batches into a blender.  Remember - hot liquid and a blender can be explosive.  Never fill your blender more than 1/3 to 1/2 full and use a kitchen towel you don't love to place over the lid and then hold that sucker down!  It's a kitchen Catch 22 - things blend better when they are warm, but warm liquids in a closed container really want to expand when you turn the blender on.  Just watch a You Tube video or a Food Network tutorial or ask your kitchen role-model and trust me - be careful, don't overfill, use the towel, hold the lid, be patient and you'll have a perfectly-blended cauliflower base for your soup in no time!

*I totally forgot to take a picture of the final version in a beautiful bowl...it was really good and we ate it!  Talk about the perks of recipe development!