Spring Chicken Soup

Hands up if you’re starting to get sick of heavy old winter soup recipes… ME TOO. When I saw Tosca Reno’s “Spring Fresh Chicken Soup” recipe, I knew I had to try it. A few itsy bitsy modifications, and I think I have one of the easiest – and most delicious – twists on chicken soup around.

It’s -40 in Winnipeg today – OBVIOUSLY a soup day. I have a larger-than-life pot of this soup simmering away on my stove right now in anticipation of my mom’s lunchtime visit.

THE INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 low-sodium bouillon cubes (it’s super hard to find this without all kinds of unnecessary junk in it, but well worth the grocery store hunt!)
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 leeks – white + light green parts only, chopped coarsely
• 3 inner stalks celery (including leaves) – chopped coarsely
• 1 or 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 tsp sea salt

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Place stock in a soup pot. Bring to a boil. Add chicken breasts + bouillon cubes and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare the vegetables.

Make sure leeks are well washed + rinsed before using.

Add chopped leeks + celery to the soup pot. Cook 10 minutes.

Remove cooked chicken breasts from pot and let cool while soup simmers. Cut chicken into thin ribbons and return to pot along with cooked rice. Add bean sprouts and cook 3 minutes more.

Add sea salt. Stir and serve hot.

THE VERDICT

YUM. This soup is filling and fresh – the perfect antidote to a late winter cold snap. I’ve modified it slightly depending on what I have on hand – sometimes using pre-cooked chicken breasts (I plan ahead and make extras when I’m prepping dinner the night before) and cooking rice in the broth instead. WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU. It’s hard to screw up soup. Which is really good when you’re cooking with a toddler around.

THE SOURCE

Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook

Honeyed Oranges + Carrots

THE INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds very small carrots *or* regular carrots cut into thin sticks
• 1 orange, cut into 8 chunks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp dill

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 375.

Toss carrots + orange chunks with oil, honey, salt, and pepper on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Roast, tossing once, until tender – around 30 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle with dill.

THE VERDICT

This is so similar to other recipes I’ve tried, but it’s the best one… My other recipes use orange juice instead of actual orange pieces and I don’t know why this is so much better – but it is.

It is SO EASY and it looks kind of fancy, so it’s a perfect side dish to pull out for company (or anytime).

THE SOURCE

Real Simple Magazine

Roasted Maple Cranberry Sauce

THE INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cranberries
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (the PC Organics brand is my favourite)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 lime
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Place cranberries in a pie plate and drizzle with 1/4 cup syrup and water. Using a zester, peel strips of lime and stir into mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for about one hour, stirring occasionally. When the cranberries break down and sauce becomes bubbly, remove from oven. Squeeze in juice from lime and stir in remaining 2 tbsp syrup along with shallot, tarragon, and salt.

This sauce will keep well – covered and refrigerated – up to 2 weeks. The longer it sits, the yummier it will get. Bring to room temperature before serving.

THE VERDICT

This is freaking delicious cranberry sauce. I served it as a topper for plain chicken breasts, but I’m particularly looking forward to using the leftovers in wraps with chicken or turkey, mixed greens, and a little bit of cheese (I finally found dairy free + soy free cheese!).

Honestly, I’ve always bought cranberry sauce because I thought it would be hard to make. This was the easiest thing EVER. And it’s going to be my go-to recipe for cranberry sauce – adding the lime + shallots makes it extra special and extra tasty.

And did I mention 28 calories per 2 tbsp? Put it on EVERYTHING

THE SOURCE

Clean Eating Magazine

Cranberry Quinoa + Couscous

THE INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup whole grain couscous, divided
• 1/4 cup slivered raw almonds
• 1/4 cup brazil nuts
• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla soy milk*
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp apple pie spice (recipe follows at the end of this post)

*I subbed unsweetened almond milk + 1/2 tsp vanilla

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Place 1/2 cup couscous, almonds, and brazil nuts in a food processor and process until fine.

Place quinoa + water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer, covered, for several minutes. Add the remaining couscous, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes – until the quinoa grains look like they’ve exploded.

Add processed couscous + nut mixture, milk, cranberries, zest, and spices. Let mixture cook over low heat until it thickens.

Remove from heat and let sit covered for a few minutes. Use a fork to fluff grains.

THE VERDICT

I needed something different as a side dish – and I really like both quinoa and couscous – and I never met a cranberry I didn’t like – so we tried it. I really liked this recipe. Geoff has something against fruit falling into ‘real food’ and wasn’t the world’s biggest fan.

Whatever. They can’t all be home runs.

We had it with chicken breasts + cranberry sauce. I had some minced shallots left over from making the sauce and I added them to the pot when cooking the quinoa and it was pretty yummy.

Also, it’s tricky to find dried fruit without added sugar, but it’s totally possible. I picked up a bunch of different kinds at Vita Health. If you’re not as worried about sugar as I am, craisins will do just fine.

THE SOURCE

Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook

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APPLE PIE SPICE

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp cardamom

Use the amounts written here or experiment with the proportions to make your own version. Add it to breads, cereals, smoothies…

Apple Cranberry Crumble

THE INGREDIENTS

• olive oil cooking spray
• 1/3 cup sucanat*
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour**
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 granny smith apples, cored and sliced thinly
• 2 cups cranberries
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup maple flakes
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil***
• 1 tbsp apple juice

*I subbed pure organic maple syrup

**I subbed spelt flour

***I subbed coconut oil

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat an 8″ pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sucanat, flour, and cinnamon. Add apple slices and cranberries. Mix together and spread evenly in prepared baking pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together oats, maple flakes, baking powder, and salt. Combine oil + apple juice and add it to oat mixture, stirring until mixture appears crumbly.

Sprinkle oat mixture over apples and cranberries, and bake for 35 minutes or until bubbly. Serve warm or chilled.

THE VERDICT

I needed to bring a dessert to Girls Night yesterday, and I thought this one sounded pretty foolproof. Other than forgetting that one of the girls is DEATHLY allergic to coconut oil (oops), it was a perfect choice – easy to assemble ahead of time and bake at my friend’s house, and devoured by everyone. It was just a little bit sweet, but most of the flavour came from the apples + cranberries – just the way I love it. Definitely making this one again.

(I FINALLY found maple flakes at Organza, for all you Winnipeg folks!)

THE SOURCE

Clean Eating Magazine

Chicken Almondine

THE INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted + divided
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour*
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• sea salt + fresh ground pepper to taste
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
• olive oil cooking spray

*I subbed in spelt flour, but you can use whatever is okay in your diet + whatever you have on hand

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Grind half of the almonds to a powder using a food processor fitted with a standard blade or spice grinder. In a medium bowl, combine ground almonds with flour and paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken breasts in almond-flour mixture and set aside.

Heat a large nonstick pan or cast iron skillet for one minute. Mist with cooking spray and heat for one more minute. Reduce heat to medium-high and saute chicken for three minutes per side or until golden brown with no pink remaining. Remove from heat.

To serve, sprinkle remaining almonds over top of chicken, dividing evenly.

THE VERDICT

This was another dinner success! We had it with the Lemony Baked Rice and veggies.

THE SOURCE

Clean Eating Magazine

Lemony Baked Rice

THE INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or water)
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 tbsp lemon zest

THE INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray (I used olive oil). Place rice in casserole dish. Pour water or stock + lemon juice over rice. Add salt and place in oven. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until liquid has absorbed.

THE VERDICT

Um, do you SEE how easy this recipe is? It was a no brainer that it made it onto my list of recipe to try. And it’s a no brainer to add it into regular rotation.

I didn’t actually have a lemon on hand, so I used some lemon juice and opted out of the zest but I added chives. I used chicken stock. And it was seriously yummy.

THE SOURCE

Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook