Thaipanese HenopHusion Chicken Soup – Recipe for a healthy winter lifestyle

HEALTH – Numerous studies support the health benefits of chicken soup and the various ingredients used in this recipe. This is great for the winter to ward off colds and strengthen your immune system. And the timing couldn’t be better for us to bring you this recipe, as the Antelope Valley has hit record low temperatures this week.

Thaipanese HenopHusion Chicken Soup

Mama Vega*s “pHlu” recipe for preventing the flu and balancing the pH in your body.

— Ingredients for Brown Rice —

• 1 cup basmati rice (brown)
• water

— Ingredients for Roasted Chicken —

•  1 whole chicken
• 2 Tbsp garlic – granulated
• 2 Tbsp onion powder
• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (dried)
• 1 Tbsp sea salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
• 4 Tbsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 cup rosemary leaves coarsely crushed onion cut in quarters
• 1 lemon, fresh and cut in half
• 2 cups water

— Ingredients for Chicken Stock —

• chicken carcass
• water
• 1 Tbsp ginger, fresh
• 3 Tbsp garlic, minced fresh
• green tea (two tea bags torn open)
• 1 Tbsp Thai chili pepper or 1/2 tsp cayenne or 1 tsp Thai chili sauce
• 2 celery stalk diced
• 2 cups kale – chopped
• 1 lemon grass stalk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup parsley – Italian – chopped
• 1 Tbsp turmeric
• 1 cup carrots – shredded
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 lb buckwheat noodles (Japanese Soba noodles)
• 2 cups Mama Vega*s Salsa
• 1 cup cilantro – fresh chopped

BEGIN PREPARATION TWO DAYS AHEAD!

— Procedure: Rice

1. Put rice in a container large enough to cover it with at least 4 inches of water.
2. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
3. Pour off water, rinse and cover again with fresh water.
4. Leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
5. Just before using in recipe below, rinse and put uncooked rice into stock.

— Procedure: Roasted Chicken

1. Preheat oven to 530 degrees.
2. Clean chicken making sure to remove the bag of giblets and the neck setting them aside.
3. Put chicken in a roasting pan.
4. Season generously on all sides including inside the carcass with the seasonings listed above in the chicken section.
5. Put the cut onion and cut lemon inside the carcass.
6. Put the neck and giblets in the pan next to the seasoned chicken and season them with the same seasonings.
7. Pour 4 cups of water around the chicken, adding a teaspoon of seasonings to the water before pouring into the roasting pan.
8. Cover with roasting pan lid and put in oven.
9. Cook 2 hours and remove from oven.
10. DO NOT open lid. Let cool for 30 minutes.
11. Remove lid, drain all juice into a stock pot and set aside.
12. Remove skin from chicken, put in a separate bowl and SAVE.
13. Put onion and lemon in the bowl with the skin.
14. Remove all meat from bones.
15. Put bones in a separate stock pot and cover with water.

— Procedure: Stock

1. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.
2. Remove all bones and discard.
3. Ladle some of this stock into a blender and add some chicken skin, lemon and onion.
4. Blend until completely puree and add to the first stock drained off the roasted chicken into the stock pot.
5. Repeat this several times until all the skin, giblets, neck, lemon and onion have been blended and added to the original roasted chicken stock.
6. Rinse blender, makes it easier to clean when done.

— Procedure: Soup Assembly

1. Drain and rinse rice and add to stock.
2. Add stock seasonings from list beginning with ginger through turmeric dumping in the green tea from the tea bags.
3. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add shredded carrots.
5. Stir in coconut milk.
6. Add buck wheat noodles and diced chicken with some pieces of the breast shredded.
7. When the noodles are almost done, add Mama Vega*s Salsa (available at Albertson’s locally).
8. Simmer 10 minutes. If you can find the two bay leaves, remove them or just tell your guests not to eat them or give something special to who ever happens to get them. There are only two.
9. Serve topping with fresh cilantro and a slice of sourdough bread.

Servings: 8      Yield: 8 servings     

Nutrition Facts:

Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (8.4 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Some of the Many Health Benefits:

• Chicken bones: adds calcium ions, easily absorbed collagen, protein, fats and natural salts, better cell production means delayed aging
• Detoxifying – parsley, celery, garlic, onion
• Lemon vitamin C – assists with the absorption of iron
• Kale – minerals and iron
• Turmeric – prevents cancer
• Cilantro – kills salmonella
• Ginger – stomach ache, nausea, inflammation
• Green tea – antioxidant, congestion,
• Garlic – relief from congestion, antimicrobial, immune-stimulatory
• Boost immune, complexion, relieves asthma, nourishing, hydrating, anti-inflammatory, improve cilia of the nasal passage