Josh and I have been doing the Whole30 since the 10th of April, so we are a little over half way through. I don’t know that I have seen the miracle health changes that It Starts With Food promises, but I have lost a bit of weight.
It hasn’t been as tough as you would think. I have had some hard days. For instance two Pantry Parties with yummy ‘healthy’ treats that were a little tough to pass up. Also, I had to get over the hump on day 3 where the little rebel inside me was screaming about rules. As a rule I kind of hate rules. Other than that it has been smooth sailing.
Right away I noticed that although I eat pretty well I don’t make vegetables the star of the meal as often as I should. I usually concentrate on the protein and just make a salad (I don’t want to mislead that there has been none of that on the Whole30, but it’s gotten a lot better).
I have been cooking out of the Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special since I bought it in 1999 through one of those Organic Style Magazine book clubs. Remember book clubs?
When I ate mostly vegetarian I followed the recipes pretty closely, but now I usually end up substituting veggie stock for chicken and so on. I will say because it is a vegetarian cookbook the flavors are really great and very good to use as a jumping off point. So here’s my paleo version of a vegetarian soup.
Caribbean Sweet Potato, Chicken, and Coconut Soup
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special
2 cups chopped onion
⅔ cup chopped celery
1 T coconut oil
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 – 1½ t curry powder
¼ t fresh ground nutmeg
2 bay leaves
½ t salt or more to taste
3 cups chicken stock
1½ cups shredded chicken
3 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
½ t freshly grated organic orange peel
2 T dark rum – can be omitted, but really adds to the flavor
1 cup fresh orange juice
14 oz can of coconut milk
2 T fresh lime juice, to taste
chopped cilantro or scallions (optional)
toasted unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
seeded and chopped serrano pepper (optional)
In a soup pot, sauté the onions and celery in the oil until the onions are translucent about 10 minutes. Cover the pot and stir often to prevent sticking.
Add the ginger, curry, nutmeg, bay leaves, and salt and sauté for another minute, stirring constantly. Add the stock, sweet potatoes, shredded chicken, grated peel, and rum. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Discard bay leaves. Pour the orange juice and coconut milk into the pot. Bring heat back up. Stir in lime juice. Taste and adjust.
Garnish as you wish.
Note: You can purée the soup if you leave out the chicken. If you like it a bit brothier add ½ – 1 cup of stock.
Good with Slaw, Tomato Avo Salad or a Kale Salad.
9 Comments
blake
April 26, 2013 at 4:11 PMSounds soooo good! Going in my to-eat file.
curiouscovetous
April 26, 2013 at 11:34 PMI had never heard of the whole 30 until two days ago on another blog, and now yours. Looks like I need to look into it more, especially if I can eat that stew!! Keep us updated?
xxJ
curiouscovetous
April 30, 2013 at 11:15 PMOk, just read about it again on the Wednesday Chef! I'm trying to sort through all the Whole 30 info, and thought I'd ask you- why no beans? I thought beans were so healthy!
Desi McKinnon
May 1, 2013 at 7:10 AMI think this explains it better than I can http://whole9life.com/2012/09/the-legume-manifesto/. Remember that the Whole30 isn't a forever way of eating. You will want to stick to it pretty closely, but it just gives you a baseline so that you understand what certain foods are doing to your body.
I eat pretty close to this most of the time other than the occasional honey, dairy, wine and/or cocktail. I think that why my results haven't been crazy dramatic. I have lost weight, my skin has been super clear, and I feel like my all over inflammation has decreased. I think these things have made it worth it, plus I definitely know my triggers now.
curiouscovetous
May 1, 2013 at 3:54 PMAh, gotcha. Obviously my research skills need some work! Thx 🙂
Desi McKinnon
May 3, 2013 at 2:14 PMIt happens to the best of us 😉
Colleen
May 17, 2013 at 6:17 AMLooks delicious!
Alice Q. Foodie
November 5, 2013 at 8:17 PMOoh – I think I'm going to get the ingredients for this tomorrow – it's feeling fallish – finally!
Colleen
May 22, 2014 at 6:04 PMLooks delicious!