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Immune Support: Mom’s Chicken Soup

Immune Support Soup

We all suddenly have oodles of time on our hands, plus a lot more concern about our health. Voila! If you’re a person who relieves stress by doing, this recipe is for you – even if you’re not the greatest cook in the world. More importantly, Mom’s Chicken Soup is nourishing AND provides immune support – comfort food that’s great for you.

In times of illness (cold/flu/other virus), this is the recipe I turn to, courtesy of my mom. Note: it freezes well, and there are infinite variations you can try. I like ginger and turmeric for even more of an anti-inflammatory boost, but let your taste buds guide you. This may take a little time and a few steps, but it is seriously, seriously easy to make:

Mom’s Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 small organic chicken
2.5 quarts purified water (or more)
1 large onion
4 whole carrots (or parsnips)
7 stalks celery
fresh dill

Directions

1. Bring water, chicken (gizzards removed) and a large onion, quartered, to boil in a large pot. Water should just cover chicken, so you may need slightly more or less.
2. After liquid boils, skim off white foam from tip before lowering heat to simmer for 1.5 hours uncovered.
3. Add carrots and celery stalks to liquid, cover pot, and simmer for another hour.
4. Remove chicken from pot to cut up into bite-sized pieces.
5. Remove onion and veggies from pot, puree them, and return to pot with chicken pieces.
6. Add fresh dill (and/or parsley if you like) and 1.5 tsp sea salt (or to taste).
7. Simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Elements that are particularly beneficial for immune support include: bone broth (a hot topic these days), onion, which contains anti-inflammatory quercetin, and carrots and celery containing both fiber and immune supportive vitamin A. So, why not make something good for your health and your immune defenses?

Let me know how this recipe works for you in the comments, and stay well and safe, everyone.

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Reclaim Gluten Free (AND soy free!) Asian Dumplings

asian dumplings

Back when I learned I needed to eat gluten free and soy free, I thought I’d lost certain foods forever, particularly some favorite Asian cuisines!  I’ve since learned how to make many Asian dishes with a few substitutions, the most important of which is Coconut Aminos, a staple in my kitchen and my cooking.  This sauce makes Asian dishes like my Mongolian beef work, but also adds that extra pop of umami as a quick marinade or side sauce.

Still, I thought my days of enjoying dim sum or dumplings were long gone – and the frozen ones just didn’t do it for me.  And then I found a (gasp) gluten-free dumpling class, taught by Kim Hunter of Raleigh restaurant Kimbap fame – cue celebratory dance!

The answer? A gluten free dumpling class!

Over a lovely afternoon with like-minded folks, my husband and I learned how to get those dumplings back!  I will confess that ours looked like a wild bear had folded them, but we should get better with time, right?  With her permission, I’m sharing Kim’s recipe for gluten-free dumplings so you, too, can reclaim this delicious dish!

Recipes from the Kimbap Kitchen: Pork Mandu (Korean dumplings)

Yield ~45 dumplings

Filling:

1 lb ground pork (or can use chopped up shrimp or other protein; sweet potato makes a nice vegetarian option!)

2 cups chopped greens or cabbage

½ cup chopped scallions

1 T minced garlic

1 T minced ginger

1 tsp salt

½ tsp sugar (optional)

2 T coconut aminos (a great tasting soy substitute)

  • Mix all filling ingredients

Pro tip – cook up a small amount of the filling to see if the seasoning is to your liking!

  • Dust your surface and the wrapper with fine flour (rice flour works)
  • Keep water nearby to pat onto the wrappers to keep moist
  • Fill each dumpling wrapper with approximately 1 T filling
  • Fold according to your preferred style!
  • Can steam or pan fry immediately (or keeps in refrigerator in parchment paper up to 12 hours)

Note: raw dumplings may be individually frozen for up to 6 weeks!

Gluten Free Dumpling Wrappers:

Yield 45-60

1.5 cup (white, fine) rice flour

¾ cup millet flour

¾ cup tapioca flour

2.5 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

1 cup hot water

  • Mix flours, salt, and xanthan gum
  • Add hot water and incorporate; knead for about 2 minutes
  • Let rest for at least 30 minutes

Note: dough may be stored in refrigerator for up to 2 days

  • Divide dough into 4 pieces and slice off thin pieces
  • You can either cut in circles or leave square for more rustic style
  • Roll out using a small dowel (smaller than a traditional rolling pin! Look at Asian markets)

Dumpling Sauce

Yields ½ cup

¼ cup coconut aminos

1T sesame oil

2 tsp mirin

1 tsp black vinegar

1 tsp molasses

Sliced scallions

Pinch of salt and pepper

If you don’t have mirin, vinegar, or molasses on hand, simply coconut aminos, sesame, and a pinch of salt will do!

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More than WHAT you eat – Cooking techniques matter!

With warmer weather finally (maybe! Almost?) on the horizon, grilling out may be on your mind.  Whether you’re following a specific diet or simply enjoy cooking and dining al fresco, the appeal of easily prepared meat with that distinctive “char” on the outside is one of the main draws grilling as a cooking method.  Easy, healthy, delicious – right?

A different kind of “age” – what are AGEs?

Probably the last thing in your mind is something called “advanced glycation end products,” or AGEs for short.  Yet I see many clients who ask what they can do to reduce their risk for chronic diseases; yet trying to make sense of all the dietary advice out there today – should they not eat meat?  Eat more meat?  Eat more fat like in keto?  While I don’t believe there is one perfect diet for every individual, research and my experience do support some nearly universal principles, number 1: eat your vegetables and number 2: reduce your AGE exposure.

Now what are AGEs?AGEs are formed by a reaction between sugars and fats or proteins.  They are formed as part of the body’s normal metabolism, but excessive amounts can lead to inflammation, increasing your risk for disease.  So, what does that have to do with your cookout plans?  Well, AGEs are increased by cooking meats over dry heat – like a grill.  Those yummy brown or crispy parts?  Are formed by something called the Maillard reaction and can signal increased health risks, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, due to increased oxidative stress and inflammation.  They’ve even been implicated in cognitive impairment and conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease.

Grilled foods

What can you do to reduce AGEs?

Since my goal is to help people enjoy food and not fixate on what they can’t or shouldn’t eat, here are a few tips to help you enjoy those cookouts safely and also balances out their impact by eating low-AGE producing meals generally:

  • Choose leaner cuts of meat to grill.
  • Marinate meat for at least an hour in marinades containing citrus juice and / or vinegar.  This can cut AGE formation in half!
  • Make sure to add skewers of veggies, fruit, or corn to your grill and fill your plate with these – since plant-based foods are far lower in AGEs.
  • Anti-oxidant containing foods like fruits and vegetables can also help your body to counter oxidative stress, so those veggie skewers help in multiple ways.

Other tips for when you’re not at the cookout:

  • Enjoy more raw, seasonal foods.  Raw veggies and fruit contain few AGEs!
  • Avoid processed foods as much as possible, as these can contain more AGEs.
  • Use safer, moist heat cooking methods, like poaching and steaming.
  • Cook “low and slow” – cooking longer, at lower heat levels, generates fewer AGEs. And crockpot or pressure cooking methods are easy, too!

Want to learn more? Sign up to receive your free e-book on the pillars of eating for health, deliciously.  And if you need an individualized approach, please check out our services and let us know how we can help!  Either way, my goal is to help you learn to enjoy better health, faster.

Sharon Price, M. S. Nutrition

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Top 10 Staples for Cooking with Food Allergies

One of my favorite things is figuring out how to make eating with food limitations work, deliciously.  Oh, it wasn’t always that way, but after an initial bout of “why me?!?” and a decade of navigating a veritable obstacle course of later-in-life food allergies – gluten, soy, dairy, nightshades, eggs, you name it! – I have learned that there’s almost no dish I can’t have . . . with a few adjustments, of course!

My secret?  Flexibility, an attitude of plenty rather than deprivation, and some key ingredients that reinforce my view that anything is possible.  Believe me, I’ve tried the other ones, those products that make a hunger strike start to sound appealing . . . not these!  These secret weapons are what I use and recommend to my own nutrition clients, a curated short list of tried and true staples to enrich your eating style, whatever it may be.

Please note that I have no affiliation with these products or companies! I just want to share some great ones I’ve discovered:

  1. Coconut Aminos – if you can’t have or choose not to eat soy, BUY THIS NOW, in bulk.  It is a soy-sauce substitute made from the bark of coconut trees, and has lower sodium than even low-sodium soy sauce, plus cool prebiotics and other good stuff.  And for those who – like me – loathe coconut, fear not: no coconut taste whatsoever.  Don’t eat sushi?  Buy it anyway, for all those recipes where you used to use soy.  http://www.coconutsecret.com/aminos2.html See below for a super-easy “Mongolian beef” style crockpot recipe.
  2. Kite Hill products (highlight: cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and plain Greek-style yogurt)  – Kite Hill, oh, how I love thee! Their almond-milk based ricotta cheese?  Tastes EXACTLY like, well, ricotta cheese.  It would take a more talented chef than I to make homemade ravioli with it, but you could, right?  I use it in omelets and other dishes, but I’m in love with it as a decadent, dairy-free “cheese” option.  And their cream cheese?  Ditto!  Oh, but don’t mistake this miraculous item for the rubbery Daiya version (sorry, Daiya – but I like some of your other products!) or the (equally rubbery) Kite Hill faux-brie (their only product that I loathe).  Last but definitely not least is the plain, Greek-style yogurt.  0 sugar, 14g protein, tart tanginess that make it great not just on its own.  Looking for a dairy-free substitute for sour cream in all those recipes you used make? THIS is it!
  3. Parmela Creamery – artisanal (ahem) nut cheese – once you stop snickering over the tag line (guilty), you’ll find that these cashew-based non-dairy cheese melt and taste damn good!  I particularly like the shredded mozzarella style in an omelet or on a (gluten-free) cracker.  And speaking of which…
  4. Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Norwegian Crispbread – great hearty taste AND 4g protein with only 3 net carbs?!?  Yes, please!  My staple cracker rather than one of those tasteless, simple sugar-y gluten free “crackers” that seem to abound with the explosion of gluten-free junk food today (hint: it’s still junk!).
  5. Simple Kneads Bread – This made-in-NC artisanal bread deserves way more than local love!  I first encountered this miraculous bread (or its twin) at The Village Deli, where they offered gluten-free sunflower bread, made by “some local guy who used to work here.”  I kept begging to buy a loaf, but he apparently wasn’t set up for retail.  So when I saw a similar-looking “Simple Kneads” gluten-free loaf at Harmony Farms, I was overjoyed.   When I ate it, I became convinced it was the same bread (disclaimer: I have no idea if it is).  Think your days of enjoying a reuben on something resembling rye bread are gone with the gluten?  Think again and get THIS bread, which comes in sourdough, pumpkin seed (oddly rye-like) and quinoa power bread.
  6. Miso-master Organic chickpea miso  – love that miso soup at Japanese restaurants but avoiding soy?  It’s easy to make at home – just skip the soy-based miso.  Didn’t know there was any other kind?   Neither did I, until I spotted tubs of rice, chickpea and other grain and bean based miso’s at Whole Foods.  Note: make sure to read the ingredients!  I was surprised to learn that the rice one still contains soy, but the chickpea one does not.  They are all gluten free, if that’s what you’re avoiding.
  7. Grainnaisance Mochi – no, not the ice cream mochi, but this product is also rice based.  If you are lucky enough to find this in a store (I did once, but now have to order in bulk from Whole Foods), it looks like a flat cake of nothing – which it is, until you cut it into one inch squares and bake it (briefly) in your oven according to package instructions.  And then?  It puffs up into the most delicious, lovely flaky almost bagel-like texture and goodness.  Try the original or the cinnamon raisin and if you’re not into cream cheese, top it off with…
  8. Soy-free Earth Balance – so you can’t have dairy or soy, but you CAN enjoy this non-dairy spread that actually tastes pretty good!  Ok, not a miracle, but definitely a staple for me when I find that good ol’ extra virgin olive oil won’t quite suffice.
  9. Zeroodles black bean pasta – I had to include the one bean-based pasta without soy that doesn’t taste like grainy “ew” to me.  This one holds together — hollds up well to sauce, yet doesn’t REQUIRE sauce to make it palatable.  I have eaten it with just a light oil some vegetables, and found it delicious.  Whether you are avoiding gluten, trying to eat lower carb, or just looking for some variety, this product packs your pasta meal with some much-needed protein and fiber.
  10. Your local Vietnamese Restaurant (I like Pho Far East in North Raleigh) – ok, you can’t put this one in your pantry but for the gluten, soy and dairy intolerant, Vietnamese food can be an economical lifesaver.  Double check where you go, but pho typically does not contain wheat OR soy, despite its savory noodle-y goodness.  It does contain a boatload of salt, so watch it if that’s an issue for you.  Don’t forget to explore the rest of the menu – rice paper spring rolls are also pretty yummy. 

Enjoy!  These are my ranking favorites after 10+ years of experimentation.  What are yours?

*Crock Pot Gluten-free, Soy-free Mongolian Beef

1.5 lb tri- tip, sliced thinly (as if for stir fry)

¾ cup coconut aminos

1 tbsp sesame oil

¼ cup arrowroot

3-4 big cloves garlic, minced

Crushed red peppers (to taste)

Couple pieces of ginger, minced (to taste)

  1. Put steak in zip lock bag with arrowroot, shake to distribute evenly
  2. Mix coconut aminos, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, crushed red peppers (to taste) in the crock pot
  3. Add coated meat and stir
  4. Cook on high for 1.5 to 2 hrs (it will be gooey and the meat should be cooked and tender)

Serve with steamed broccoli (or other vegetable) and / or cauliflower rice d