The day after an over-the-top restaurant escapade, I like to fill my belly with cleansing foods. The Dill Chicken Salad is a great option if you’re looking for a raw veggie system shock but on this particular day, I was craving soup.
This soup, in addition to being delicious and wonderfully comforting if you’re not feeling well, has awesome cleansing powers to help your system find and press its reset button.
What’s the magic ingredient?
Ginger.
The health benefits of ginger and why you should eat more of it:
- Aids in digestion (and relief from gas) because of a few special enzymes and carminative properties.
- Help calm nausea, protect your stomach against ulcers, and soothe a sore throat by promoting good mucus secretion.
- Help reduce pain in joints, bones and muscles due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
So there you have it! This soup is low-sodium chicken broth based. I added chicken, some beautiful little straw mushrooms (inspired from one of my favorite Thai soups), and fresh cilantro.
Be sure you note the cooking time of the chicken. It’s easy to over cooked chicken in soup. Remember, just because it’s cooking in a liquid does not mean it wont get tough or rubbery if left on the heat too long.
Ginger Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1.3 lbs. Raw Chicken I used 2 chicken breasts
- 1.5 cups Peeled Straw Mushrooms one can
- 4 inch of Fresh Ginger Root
- 5 Cloves of Garlic
- 6 cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
- 4 cups Water
- Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, pour in the chicken broth and water.
- Turn heat to medium/high and bring up to a simmer.
- Cut your fresh ginger into about ½ inch discs.
- With the side of your knife between you and the ginger, smash your hand on the knife. This will increase the surface area of the ginger and allow for more of its great nutrients find their way into the soup.
- Peel and smash your garlic the same way.
- Leaving your garlic and ginger whole, drop them into the soup.
- Simmer in the soup for about 30 minutes. This will help infuse with the right amount of flavor.
- Cut your chicken into strips about ½ inch thick and 2 inches long.
- Drop your chicken into the soup and cook for about 15 minutes or until it looks like they’re done.
- Fish out the ginger and garlic.
- Turn off the heat and add the mushrooms.
- Serve in large bowls and top with as much cilantro as you like.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Looks great! However, I don’t like mushrooms. Any suggestions on what I can use instead? Thanks!
You can leave them out or replace with a veggie of your choice! Carrots or greens of some sort would both be good choices.
Yum, sounds wonderful!
Thanks!!
I love ginger <3
Your pictures are brilliant!!
Thanks, Katherine!! I love it too. I’ll see about incorporating it more often 🙂