I don’t know about you, but when it starts getting cold outside, warm and nourishing soup immediately comes to mind. I not only love the fact that you can pack a lot of nutrition into a compact, one pot to wash meal, but you can clean out your produce bin in the process!
The key to a truly healthy soup is homemade bone broth. Properly prepared stocks are nutrient dense, providing minerals from the bones, cartilage, marrow and vegetables. Adding acidic wine or vinegar helps to pull out these minerals, particularly calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Stock is also a great source of gelatin which aids in digestion, help to heal the lining of the intestinal tract, and is a rich source of amino acids. Conventional stocks or broths that you can buy off the shelf often contain many undesirable ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, monosodium glutamate, caramel coloring, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil… The list goes on.
Here is a recipe for simple chicken stock from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. If I could only keep one of my cookbooks, this would be the one!
Chicken Bone Broth
- 1 whole free-range chicken or 2-3 pounds of bony chicken parts (necks, backs, breastbones, and wings)
- Gizzards from one chicken (optional)
- 2-4 chicken feet (optional)
- 4 quarts cold, filtered water
- 2 tablespoons vinegar (We prefer apple cider vinegar.)
- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
- 1 bunch parsley
*Notes: The stock will stay good in the fridge for up to four or five days. You can use it as a base for soups,stews, grains and sauces. If I have been in a pinch and picked up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store one night, I will save the carcass for stock the next day. Chicken feet are available from many grocery stores or you could ask your butcher to save you some. They’re really cheap and add a lot of gelatin to your stock.
Tags: chicken stock