It seems like everyone is sick at the moment, my household included. Hurry up end of winter we are all over you! I always go for soups when I’m feeling  sick, you can pack so many nutrients into them, plus they are easy to digest. Whenever anyone is sick in our house this is the soup recipe we go for. I originally got it from Quirky Jo’s recipe but adapted it to suit us.  I added the rice noodles as my kids tend to eat soups then, but if you’re avoiding carbs just leave them out.  This is full of all sorts of anti-inflammatory herbs like the ginger and turmeric to help with inflammation of the throat or digestive system. It’s GF, and fructose friendly and just a really nice soup. Its also antiviral with the coconut milk and coconut oil, so a super good one for if you’re sick. It’s quite filling too as its high in protein with the chicken, coconut oil and almond meal so will satisfy the men too. It’s a recipe that I include in my gut health program as its nice and gentle on the stomach and full of good gut healing goodness with the broth, the turmeric, ginger and broccoli for prebiotics. We sometimes focus too much on probiotics but we also need prebiotics to feed the probiotics. OK I’m rambling now, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

-2 inch fresh ginger, grated

-1 tbsp turmeric

-2-3 spring onions, green part only

-a handful of fresh coriander

-1 red chilli (optional)

-3 x chicken breasts/thighs, chopped (approx. 500 grams)

-1 tbsp coconut oil

 -1 litre chicken broth/stock

-1 x cup light coconut milk

-30g fresh lemon juice (approx. 2 x lemons)

-1 tsp coconut sugar or brown sugar

-2 tbsp soy sauce/tamari

-½ cup almond meal

-2 x cups broccoli

-1 x cup spinach.

-125 grams rice noodles

extra sliced spring onions, chilli and coriander for garnish (optional)

Method

1. Finely chop ginger, coriander, chilli and spring onions. (Do it in a food processor or thermomix to save time)
2. Chop chicken pieces into cubes.
3. Heat a stock pot or large sauce pan with 1 tbsp coconut oil. Add chicken, spring onions, chilli, ginger and turmeric and cook on a medium heat for a few minutes. Then add stock/broth and simmer for 10 minutes. 
4. Chop broccoli florets and add to the soup with  almond meal, lemon juice, soy sauce, coconut sugar and simmer another 5 mins. Then add the coconut milk, spinach and rice noodles and continue to simmer for a further 5 mins.
5. Pour into bowls, and garnish with extra spring onions, chilli and coriander if you like.