Sick Day Turmeric and Lime Chicken Soup

Best For- Non-conventional sicklings who want to break out of the cycle of chicken noodle soup (or anyone looking for a new soup recipe)

Musical Pairing- “Harvest Moon” by Lord Huron

Sick days happen. Especially after the holidays. It seems almost none of my friends have escaped the post New Year’s slump. Now, conventional wisdom would say this is a time for chicken noodle soup. But who wants to be conventional at the start of a new decade?

Enter, this Sick Day Soup. Healing turmeric, ginger, scallions, and garlic meet nourishing chicken and herbs. Fresh lime and a dash of soy are added for a zing that not even your congested taste buds can ignore. It’s easy to make, delicious, and will have you forgetting about chicken noodle from the first bite!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 3–4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 6–8 cups chicken broth
• 5 limes, juiced
• Optional- 1/4 tsp red chili pepper
• Optional- 1 tsp soy or fish sauce
• Fresh mint
• Fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Do your prep first. Thinly slice your garlic, and peel and slice your ginger and shallots. They’re all going in the same place, so there is no need to carefully keep them separate.

1. Take out a large soup pot or Dutch oven and put it over medium heat. Pour your olive oil in the pot, let it heat up for about a minute, and add the garlic, ginger, and shallots. Sauté for 3-5 minutes.
2. Next, place the chicken thighs in the soup pot. Add 1 tsp of salt and the turmeric. Let cook for a few minutes without touching. Then, flip and cook until cooked through. Take out the chicken and put off to the side on a plate.
3. Now, add your spinach and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pot. Sauté until wilted, roughly 2-3 minutes until wilted. Once wilted, add the spinach to a separate plate from the chicken.
4. Now onto the rice. Pour the rice into the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. Do not clean the pot out before adding the rice — we want it to pick up all the previous flavors. After 1-2 minutes, add 6 cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmering boil.
5. While the rice is cooking in the chicken broth, shred your chicken using two forks. Juice your limes (but keep the juice separate — we’ll use in the next step).
6. After about 30 minutes, once the rice is soft, add the chicken and spinach back to the pan. Pour in the lime juice juice and optional soy/fish sauce and red chili peppers. Top with desired amount of fresh herbs.
7. Enjoy!

Two notes- You’ll notice the recipe called for more broth than used. This is became because the rice will soak up the broth so if you’re eating leftovers you’ll likely need to top up the soup with more broth. Additionally, if not enjoyed all at once, I’d recommend adding the herbs fresh to each serving, rather than all at once