ANABOLIC EATING #5—AUTUMN EDITION

ANABOLIC EATING #5—AUTUMN EDITION

By Shane Robert

Autumn is officially upon us in most places in the northern hemisphere, even here in San Francisco. We have started to get rain and colder temperatures and leaves are starting to fall. I’ll admit that fall anywhere in non-mountanious California is pretty mild compared to most places, certainly compared to where I grew up in the northwest, but that doesn’t change the fact that the sensibility of the season still applies.

At this darker and colder time of the year, eating things like soups and stews feels right. I don’t know why, but it does. I’ve never been a big fan of really soupy soups. The kinds that are mostly broth with just a little bit of meat or some kind of grain. I want my soup to be very hearty and filling. Most chicken noodle soups, for example, are too thin for my taste. The soup below is a chicken and rice variation that I much prefer instead. I can’t remember what cookbook or website I got aspects of this off of but I definitely didn’t come up with it wholly by myself.

It is very filling, yet relatively low in calories, and so incredibly flavorful. This is one of my go-to foods when the cold season invades the house.

CHICKEN & RICE SOUP

STEP 1 INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tablespoon Butter or Evoo
• 1 Large Onion - diced
• 3 Celery Stalks - sliced thin
• 2 Carrots - sliced thin
• 8 Cups Chicken Broth (pre-made works, but making your own has the best flavor)
• 1 Cup Rice (I prefer ½ wild rice and ½ white, but any rice will do)

Use a large soup pot. Saute the onion in the butter until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked but still has a bite ~8-10 minutes.

STEP 2 INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of cooked chicken or turkey breast* 
• Juice of 1 lemon (note: zest the rind before juicing)
• Salt and black pepper to taste (I usually go 2 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper)

Add all of the ingredients to the pot and simmer for another 3-5 more minutes.

*If you don’t have any precooked chicken or turkey, you can still make this soup. Cut your uncooked chicken into bite size pieces and add to the pot to brown with the onion and simmer with the rest in step 1.

TO SERVE:

Ladle soup to a bowl and add 1-2 tablespoons of the following garnish:

• 2-4 garlic cloves diced
• ⅓ cup minced flat leaf parsley
• ½ of the zest of the lemon (make sure to zest before squeezing the juice out)
•  Mix together and enjoy. 

*I always make about double the garnish because I really like the flavor that it adds. Seriously, this makes the soup.*