All Posts Tagged ‘bone broth

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Chorizo and Yam Soup with Rosemary Sea Salt Biscuits

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My local butcher shop sells the most amazing chorizo sausage. I pick up a pack each week and try to find something new to do with it because it is just so delicious and packed full of flavour! Tonight I used it to top my pureed soup and give it a kick. Mission accomplished.

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Chorizo and Yam Soup (with Kale Chips)

(My husband and I polished this off in one sitting with no leftovers. Double it if you are feeding more than two very hungry adults.)

Ingredients:

1 pack of chorizo sausage (about 5 links)

1 leek, chopped

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

4 yams, peeled and chopped

1 apple, chopped

1.5 tsp of ground sage

2 cups of beef bone broth

1 bunch of kale, washed and roughly torn

1-2 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 tbsp coconut oil

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2) Combine your chopped leek, pepper, garlic, yams, and apple in a large bowl. Toss with the olive oil, then sprinkle with the sage and a pinch of  sea salt and toss again.

3) Spread your mixture onto a lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until yams are soft.

4) About 15 minutes before your roasting time is up, toss your kale pieces in some olive oil and spread on a lined baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and throw in the oven for 15 minutes while your vegetables finish roasting.

5) While your vegetables are roasting, melt your coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Remove the casing from your chorizo sausage and crumble the sausage into your pan.

6) Fry the sausage until it’s cooked through and then transfer it to a serving dish.

7) When your vegetables and kale are finished roasting, remove both pans from the oven. Let the kale chips cool and then transfer to a serving dish.

8) When the vegetables have cooled, transfer them to a blender, add the beef bone broth, and puree until smooth. Pour into a large soup pot and simmer on the stove for 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, throw the roasted vegetables and bone broth into the soup pot and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

9) Once the soup has been simmering for 5-10 minutes, ladle it into your bowls and top with kale chips and chorizo sausage. Enjoy!

Rosemary Sea Salt Biscuits

(Note: These biscuits are NOT Whole30 approved. No biscuits are!)

Ingredients:

4 large eggs, whites and yolks divided

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

3/4 tsp sea salt

1.5 tsp rosemary

4 tbsp cold grass fed butter

1 tsp raw honey (optional)

I really wanted to add some sharp raw cheese to these biscuits, but I don’t tolerate it well. If you are able to tolerate raw dairy, then I think it would be delicious in these biscuits.

Directions:

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2) Separate your egg whites and yolks into two bowls. Beat your egg whites until they are foamy and begin to form soft peaks.

3) Add your honey to the egg yolks and mix to combine well.

3) Fold your yolks and honey into your egg whites and mix softly until combined.

4) Combine all your dry ingredients into a bowl and then cut your butter into the dry mixture, using a fork or pastry cutter until it is crumbled.

5) Gently combine your egg and honey mixture with your dry ingredients until mixed well. Wait a few minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the excess liquid.

6) Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, scoop your biscuits onto a lined baking sheet, leaving an inch in-between. Depending on the size of your scoop, the recipe should yield about 6-8 biscuits.

7) Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool and then slice and enjoy with grass fed butter on top.

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Potato Soup with Kale and Italian Sausage

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All of a sudden winter has hit us here in Vancouver. It’s been beautifully sunny and absolutely chilly and we are loving it! We’ve spent hours outside each day soaking up the sunshine and everyone’s mood has been lifted.

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The fresh cold air makes me crave hot soup, and so that plus the fact that kale was on sale at our local market had me coming up with this for dinner last night. This made quite a large pot, probably enough for about 6 bowls.

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Ingredients:

-6 slices of nitrate free, sugar free bacon

-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

-1 leek, white and light green parts only, chopped

-2 celery stalks, chopped

-4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped (I used red potatoes but any kind will do)

-3 potatoes, diced into bite size pieces (I prefer to leave the peel on for this part)

-6 sausage links, Italian flavoured or chorizo (I did a mix)

-2 large red bell peppers, diced

-2 bunches of kale, stems removed and roughly torn or chopped

-fresh chives, chopped

-4 cups chicken broth

-1 cup water

-salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Fry the bacon in a large soup pot over medium heat. (Put the bacon in your cold soup pot and then turn on the heat to medium to get the most fat rendered out of your bacon – thanks Cherie for that tip!)

2) Once the bacon is cooked, remove it and set it to the side. Remove all but 1-2 tbsp of the bacon fat. (Save that removed bacon fat in a jar for another day…it’s gold.)

3) Fry your garlic, leek and celery in the pot with the 1-2 tbsp bacon fat until it smells wonderful, about 2-4 minutes.

4) Add in your 4 peeled and chopped potatoes and fry for another few minutes.

5) Pour in your chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 or so minutes, until potatoes are soft.

6) While your potatoes are cooking, heat a large pan over medium heat. Remove the sausage casing and crumble the meat into the pan. Cook until there is no longer any pink.

7) When the potatoes are soft, puree the whole pot of broth, potatoes, garlic, leeks and celery. Use a hand held immersion blender or remove the mixture and blend it in a Vitamix and then return it to the pot.

8) Add the rest of the potatoes and the cooked sausage. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes or until the diced potatoes begin to soften.

9) Add your chopped kale and diced red pepper and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

10) Ladle the soup into bowls and serve topped with chives and bacon.

Enjoy!

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5 Tips for Staying Healthy This Holiday Season

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I’m curled up in bed while I write this, surrounded by tissues and hot tea. My inspiration for this post comes from my own neglect of these practices lately, so it’s time to write about it and then practice what I preach.

This Fall, sickness has hit me pretty hard. Here are some things I should’ve been doing and am really encouraging you to do to stave off illness as much as possible.

1) Hot water and lemon. I always have a mug of warm lemon water that I carry around my home with me throughout my day. It’s comforting and refreshing but also aids in blood purification, serves as a powerful antibacterial, and aids your immune system. (For more information on the health benefits of drinking warm lemon water, click here and here.)

2) Sleep. And lots of it. Make it a priority at all times but especially during the fall and winter months. “When you’re sleep deprived, you often feel “worn down” — and that’s a clue that your body is vulnerable to infection. “Not getting enough sleep makes you more vulnerable to picking up illnesses and not being able to fight them off,” says Donna Arand, PhD, DABSM, clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Center in Dayton, Ohio. “What’s going on is your immune system is degraded.” The less sleep you get, the weaker your immune system is, leaving it less able to fight off colds, flu, and other infections.” (Read more on The Healing Power of Sleep here.)

3) Bone broth. The benefits of drinking bone broth are never-ending, including healthy gut and digestion, muscle repair and growth, a balanced nervous system, and a strong immune system to name a few. It is very simple to make at home, or you can find a good local source. When I don’t have time to make it, I buy it from our local butcher at Heritage Meats. Try sipping it from a mug or just use it as a base for all your favourite soup recipes as often as possible. (More on bone broth, and a recipe for it here.)

4) Lay off the sugar. It very quickly suppresses your immune system, and it doesn’t take much to do it. Better yet, do a Whole30. (There are a ton of articles out there on the topic (google ‘sugar and the immune system’) but I really enjoy this article by Mark’s Daily Apple.)

5) Avoid stress. Of course, not all stress is avoidable. Sometimes life throws us curveballs that we have to accept. However, I have so many friends who complain about their stress level, and most of it is just STUFF. They’ve taken on too many chores, too many activities for their kids, too many service projects (yes, that is possible), and they are burning out. Stress directly stifles your immune response. We all want to do it all, but pace yourself and choose the things that are most important to you this season. (Take my word for it, or read more here.)

Stay tuned for a collection of some tried and tested home remedies for the common illnesses that go around during the fall and winter months! Stay well, friends.