Fall is the perfect time for athletes to experiment with a variety of soups. Fresh, seasonal vegetables will not only provide the nutrients needed for fuel, but soup is also easy to digest. This makes exercising more comfortable since there is less stress on the digestive system.
Soup is a comfort food that warms us in many ways. It is the perfect food for lazy masticators and makes allergies in the fall seem more tolerable. No two soups are the same even if the same recipe is used. They have their own personalities and are a great way to use your imagination in everyday life. Soup is thankfully hard to screw up.
This seasonal soup recipe is a mixed bean and vegetable blend with some leftover chicken.
Ingredients:
- Pinto and small kidney beans
- Normandy blend vegetables
- Butternut squash
- Chicken breast and broth (or substitute veggie broth and cauliflower for the meat)
- Herbs and spices
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
Use dried beans instead of canned beans. Let the beans soak overnight and then boil them for two hours on medium-low heat for this recipe.
While the soaking is not strictly necessary, it shortens cooking time and results in more evenly textured beans. Also, discarding one or more batches of soaking water leaches out the hard-to-digest complex sugars that can cause flatulence.
After the beans are cooked, drain and rinse them into a large pot that will accommodate all of the ingredients. Add some leftover chicken breast and broth as well as rosemary, dill, parsley, sage, salt, and pepper. Add water and pour in some extra virgin olive oil.
TIP: Cook your chicken breast in water with salt and pepper and then store your chicken in its own broth and juices. It keeps nice and moist instead of drying out in the fridge, and you can use the broth for the soup as well.
While the beans are boiling, cut up and started boiling some butternut squash. When soft, add the squash to the soup mix as well as several handfuls of frozen Normandy Blend mixed vegetables. Normandy Blend includes broccoli, cauliflower, and both yellow and orange carrots. The soup will be hot enough to defrost the veggies but not hot enough to make them mushy.
You can store this soup in empty apple sauce jars and keep it in the fridge. Soups taste better after they have had time to marry, so try waiting overnight and have some soup after your workout the next day.
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