Whole Ingredients

No matter what camp you talk to in the eating world, you are going to get a similar story. Whether it is the paleo, vegetarian, vegan, raw or farm-to-fork world, the story about what is best to eat really boils down to “eating whole ingredients.” After that the roads taken are really pretty different, but if they are being honest or know anything about good eating then they will tell you whole ingredients are where it’s at.

I know that this is preaching to the choir or stating the obviously but for those who haven’t been part of the paleo world or who are just starting off on a new health food adventure I’ll define what I mean when I say “whole ingredients.”

Whole Ingredients=anything that came from the ground or walked on the ground, I.e. not processed foods

Our bodies are amazing creations; they are capable of running on fuel that it was never intended to take in.  However, let’s say you put diesel fuel into a gasoline run car…it may do something but it isn’t going to run optimally. It also will ruin your engine if you insist on continuing to force it to handle something for which it was never intended. Likewise, when we force our bodies to not only occasionally fuel but draw all their nutrients from processed foods on a regular basis you’re asking it to give out eventually.

Now, I “know” that not all processed foods are out to get us (I use quotation marks because I have a hint of paranoia that they are in cahoots with those who profit from trying to help us lose weight). Many times they were simply created to “make our lives easier,” because our world is “so fast paced.”  I don’t know about you but when I evaluate my life truly and honestly, it isn’t really that busy. I really DO have the time that it take to saute some veggies, sear and cook some chicken. Prep time and all, this dish only takes up about 20 minutes in my day, which is shorter than sitting down to watch an episode of really anything.  If you were to get a similar meal from a frozen food section or even most restaurants you are going to end up with a ton of sodium even if it is considered “low sodium,” (and they probably used icky table salt which is a discussion for another day) and probably even sugar (why would there need to be sugar in this dish at all?).

Things hide in processed foods! Things that really have nothing to do with this dish if you were to make it yourself. It’s maddening! I dare you, if you don’t already, pick up the most harmless and even organic thing you can find on the grocery store shelf next time (chicken soup for instance) and read it from beginning to end. I did this one day, (on a Wolfgang Puck soup no less), and I found flour, pure sugar cane, and a ton of salt along with a handfull of preservatives. It completely baffled me. Why did there need to be any of those things in a chicken and veggie soup? Why? The reasons are ubdoubtedly: because it makes it taste better and to help keep it shelf stable for years to come. It is disappointing despite knowing the probable reasons. I can make a killer soup with a fraction of the sodium, no sugar, no preservatives and from start to finish it may take me an hour with thirty minutes of that time just letting it simmer and become tasty.

So jolly ranchers, juice, poptarts, frozen eggrolls and even tomato sauce do not count in this list. You are looking more for tomatoes, fruit, whole grains (if you are not going the paleo route), ground beef and honey. These are unprocessed and untouched. All their nutrients are there because a plant absorbed them from the ground and then, if it’s a meat, an animal ate those plants and converted them into dense proteins in the form of muscle tissue. This is what not only gives your body energy but helps it to create healthy cells. The less steps it has take to get from the ground or the thing that walked on the ground to get to you the more of those nutrients have been retained and the better it is for you.

In short, don’t trust the big words on the packaging of your food. Look at the fine print. Find out what they are really trying to feed you. It may seem tastier in the moment but in the long haul you will probably pay for it. Opt instead to do a bit of work yourself and feed your body what it was intended to be fueled by:whole ingredients.

Chicken Soup Without a Recipe

Chicken soup can really be anything you want it to be. Below you find a good outline of ideas to throw in for a paleo chicken soup but feel free to modify it based on what you have in your refrigerator and kitchen.

~Carrots
~Celery
~Onions
~Garlic
~Chicken Broth (or bone, beef, veggie, or heck why not seafood)
~Chicken (chicken thighs are great for this but use what ever you have the more bones the better)
~Herbs (bay leaves are kind of a must, but thyme, oregano, basil, chervil, savory, and lemon thyme are also great additions. Why not throw in some herbed de provence if you’d like. Go for it! It’s your soup.)
~Spices (whatever your heart desires: a curry, celery seed, coriander, cumin, ginger, cardamom.  I like to add turmeric and a little bit of a chile like Aleppo, Urfa, or Cayenne)

Most chefs start out by sauting their mirepoix, which simply means throwing your diced/chopped carrots, onion, and celery into a pot with a little bit of fat (like olive oil or grassfed butter) with two pinches each of salt and pepper. You want to saute (cooking a med-high heat, stirring often) them until the onions are translucent, then add the garlic. Don’t add the garlic with the mirepoix, it will burn before the onions are ready for you to add anything else. Wait until you can just barely smell the garlic and then add the chicken. Sear the chicken, making sure it browns on all sides and the add your herbs and spices, wait ’til you can smell them and then and your liquid.  If you want to get really “fancy” you can use some white wine to de-glaze the pan (which just means pour it in stir all the ingredients around trying to get all the flavor from the bottom of the pan and then let it reduce by half) and then add your broth. Bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer to let it do its thing for about thirty minutes. Then taste it. You are checking to see that there is enough flavor. You want to be able to taste all the herbs and veggies. You’ll undoubtedly need more salt and a bit more pepper. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

Notes: I didn’t give any amounts because you will learn what your family enjoys and sometimes I throw in extra of one thing over the other just based on what I have in my fridge.
-Other veggies you can throw in easily are parsnips, celery root, turnips, and sweet potatoes.
-If you used a bone-in chicken don’t forget to thoroughly go through the soup looking for the bones before serving.
-Don’t add too much salt too early in the process and be careful if you use store bought stock. This soup is going to condense or cook down making the salt more intense.
-Make this recipe your own and enjoy!

You know I’ll be eating my way through it.
~A