Lemon Chicken Spinach and Carrot Soup



Lemon Chicken soup from our local Greek restaurant has always been a favorite of mine.  But the last two times I had it (before starting the anti inflammatory elimination diet) I became very sick within minutes of finishing it.  Possibly the eggs or thickening agents but my tummy really didn't like it.  So when I thought about making lemon chicken soup that is safe on my anti inflammatory elimination diet, I decided to only use ingredients that I knew my tummy was ok with.  I am keeping it simple these days and trying hard to have flavorful meals.

 

I started with my usual trilogy of Vidalia onions, carrots and celery, along with some homemade chicken bone broth, chicken breasts, spinach and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I like hiding vegetables and thickening my broth with vegetables that I put in the food processor with just a little broth.  I need all the help I can get eating more vegetables.  I wanted to keep this broth on the thin side, so I only used one onion.  You can also add some cooked chicken with the onion in the food processor for a little more texture to the broth. 

 

I made this in the crockpot.

 

EDITED:  When using already cooked chicken breast, I don't cook this in the crockpot.  I saute the onions and celery in a little olive oil about 7 minutes.  Using immersion blender, blend until creamy.  Add all of the ingredients to a medium size stock pot, bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer about an hour to 1 1/2 hours, or until the carrots are tender.  Add chopped spinach and cook an additional 10 minutes.

 

LEMON CHICKEN SPINACH CARROT SOUP             3 SERVINGS

 

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut in half ( Greenwise from Publix)

4 cups homemade chicken bone broth (make and keep in the freezer in Mason jars)

1 Vidalia onion, rough chop

1 rib (piece) organic celery, rough chop

6 organic carrots, sliced

2 cups organic baby spinach, finely chopped

1/4 lemon juice, fresh squeezed

• Put the onion(s) and celery in food processor with 1/4 cup broth, pulse several times until you can only see tiny pieces of veges or until smooth.  Place in crockpot.
• Add chicken breasts, the remaining broth and lemon juice.
• Cook on HIGH 3 hours
• Add spinach and carrots and cook on HIGH 1 hour.
• Before serving, cut chicken into large chunks

Chicken Bone Broth Anti Inflammatory Elimination Diet

Chicken Bone Broth  good for healing my gut / makes about 12 cups broth

1 Green Wise Chicken from Publix without giblets (or antibiotic free / pastured chicken)

2 organic carrots cut into chunks

2 organic Celery ribs (pieces) cut into chunks

1 Vidalia Onion cut into chunks, you can use any onion you want, I have just found these don't make me sick

2 TBSP Braggs Organic Vinegar

1 TBSP Pink Himalayan Salt (health food store) or you can use Sea Salt

enough water to to fill your crock pot (mine is a 6 or 7 quart pot)

• Cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
• Remove chicken and pull the meat off the bones ( we eat this for a meal ) leave veges and broth in the pot.
• Put the bones, skin, cartlidge and any meat that you won't eat like the back bone back into Crock pot.
• Add water to fill the crockpot all the way up, cook on high about and hour then cook on LOW 18-20 hours.
• Remove lid and let it cool about an hour.   Remove all of the bones and veges and discard.
• Strain the broth into a fine mesh strainer to remove any small chards of bone or you can use cheese cloth over a regular strainer.  I do this 3 times.

I have Mason Jars that I bought at Walmart that you can also freeze in.  I have several sizes but I like the half pint jars (8 ounces) for freezing the broth, that way I can just thaw one at a time for each day.  I drink one or two of these a day or use it to make soup.

No Tomato Red Sauce, Tomato Free Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce

Tomato Free Red Sauce, use in place of spaghetti or pizza sauce.  Make a big batch, it freezes well.

I first saw this recipe for no tomato sauce on The Primordial Table via Pinterest.  This tomato free red sauce is beyond amazingly good!  For anyone with allergies to tomatoes or nightshades, just give this a try, it is delicious.  I do recommend that you make this a day ahead of time, as it tastes even better the second day!

* I also want to add that I melted my blender gears by not waiting until the sauce was very cool to blend after cooking.  I now use an immersion blender.*

I have made this sauce for my family several times and they can't get enough of it.  My grandson used it for dipping his chicken into instead of using ketchup.  So much healthier!

The following is the way I make no tomato red sauce.  I encourage you to use the original recipe.  I am posting this mainly for my family and friends so they know the changes I made to the orginal recipe.

I also found another version of this recipe called No Tomato Pasta Sauce and it uses canned carrots and beets.  I am not a huge fan of canned vegetables, but in a pinch I might try this!

There is this version also, No Tomato Sauce, but it uses red bell peppers which aren't good for some people on special diets.

Here is how I adapted The Primordial Table's recipe for my family. 

No Tomato Red Sauce   makes about 5 cups

6 organic carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped small
3 organic celery ribs (pieces), chopped small
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 organic beet, peeled and shredded (about a cup)**
3 cups homemade chicken bone broth
1 1/2 tsp dried Basil
1 1/2 tsp dried Oregano
2 TBSP organic Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

*1 cup organic baby spinach, chopped very fine - don't add until you are ready to eat the sauce - if you plan to freeze sauce, don't add spinach*

**I steam my beets ahead of time and freeze them so I have them all ready for this recipe but I think you could use beets that have been washed, peeled and cubed small, then just cook with the rest of the ingredients until beets are soft.**

Put all of the ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about an hour until veges are soft.  Remove from heat, let cool slightly.

Using an immersion blender, blend until sauce is smooth.  Reheat the sauce before serving.

If you are using a regular blender, please be careful and let sauce completely cool before blending.  I melted my blender gears because the sauce was too hot.
 
I plan to try and freeze some sauce to see if it freezes and thaws well.  So far, we have eaten every ounce that we make...might be time to double or triple this recipe.

EDITED:  I have frozen this sauce several times now and it thaws great in the refrigerator.