Connective Tissue Soups are great for strengthening, repairing and relaxing inflamed muscles and ligaments, and for building strong bones and healthy bodies. Whether you are starting a new fitness regiment, or just want to show some antioxidant love to your muscles and bones, this anti-inflammatory soup will make you feel alive and ready to climb mountains!
You can make this soup gluten-free by using Bragg’s aminos sauce instead of soy sauce. A vegan version can be made by adding 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms and 4 tablespoons of coconut oil instead of chicken – although the rich proteins and other body-building-blocks provided by the chicken is a part of the healing magic of this soup!
Ingredients:
Section A
1 roast chicken
6 cups water
6 bay leaves
3/4 cup raspberry leaf
3/4 cup comfrey leaf
6-8 dried shiitake mushrooms
6-8 stalks green onion
2 tablespoons powdered steam extracted Chaga mushroom powder
Section B
3 cups of your favorite mixed vegetables, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Section C
4-6 tablespoons chickpea miso
2-3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce/ Bragg’s amino sauce
4-12 jiggers Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
Pepper to taste
Optional: 4 tablespoons oyster sauce
Simmering cauldron of soup!
Directions:
Quarter the roasted chicken and put it, together with the ingredients in Section A, in a large pot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cover, simmering on low for 2 hours.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool slightly; strain through a colander, saving both the solid and liquid portions. Strain the liquid through a mesh strainer to remove the little herby bits. Rinse the pot and put the liquid portion back in.
Allow the solids to cool in the colander until you can pick out the chicken. Give the quarters a quick rinse (comfrey likes to stick to meat), and, after picking the meat from the bones return the bits of chicken to the pot with the liquid portion. Optionally you can rinse the mushrooms and put them back in the pot as well; I only do this when using fresh mushrooms since the dried ones are so tough! Discard the chicken bones and the rest of the solids.
Broth strained and Chicken picked clean!
Add your favourite mixed vegetables and minced garlic from Section B. Some of my favorites include broccoli, baby corn and red pepper. Simmer lightly for 5-10 minutes, until the veggies are just a little soft. I prefer to simmer for less time, so my vegetables retain some of their crunch and flavour.
Remove the soup from heat. Now it is time to make a miso paste. If we don’t make a paste with our miso it won’t mix well in our soup!
Put your tablespoons of miso into a mug, and add 2 tablespoons of warm water. Using a spoon, mash the miso with the water to make a well-mixed paste. Add a couple more tablespoons of water and whisk the miso to make a thinner paste. Fill the mug up with water and stir it around a little to mix the miso. Now you can add the miso-water to the soup and stir it in.
Add the rest of the ingredients in Section C, tasting as you go. You can add more Frank’s for more heat, or more soy sauce for additional saltiness.
Enjoy 1-2 cupfuls of Healthy Connective Tissue Soup per day! When reheating your soup, warm it just enough to serve – this way you will preserve the richness of the miso, a key ingredient in the savory flavour of this soup.
