Indian Chicken and Almond Soup

Indian Chicken and Almond Soup

I took a single chicken breast out of the freezer to make some kind of soup today.  When I set it by a beautiful bunch of cilantro I bought at the store this morning, I was smitten with this idea.  Needed to get some veggies in for the day, so I decided on a fresh calaba squash (They’re much like zucchini if you’re not familiar with these).  The leeks were real nice at the store today, so I decided a bit of that would be good in my soup.  This soup is what I finally came up with and was it ever good!  My husband didn’t like everything in it pureed, as it was “lumpy”, was his description.  But he’s not so fond of nuts in stuff and always moans about the crunchy/lumpy stuff in creamed soups.   I didn’t find the texture peculiar at all, however.  🙂  This recipe is not suitable until the nuts & seeds rung of the OWL ladder.

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INGREDIENTS:

6 T. butter, unsalted

½ leek, rinsed free of all dirt between layers

8 oz. chicken breast, skinless, boneless, cut in small chunks

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger root (optional)

2 oz. (44) almonds

¼ tsp. each salt and black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne (optional)

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 medium calaba (or zucchini) squash, diced (about 1½c.)

1/3 c. fresh cilantro, chopped (save out few nice leaves for garnish)

½ c. coconut milk

½ c. cream (or more coconut milk if you prefer)

2 c. chicken broth

1 c. water (or more if you like your soups thinner)

½ tsp. of my Garam Masala

DIRECTIONS:  Melt butter in large stew pot over med-high heat.  Add leeks, squash, jalapeno, ginger and saute until tender.  With slotted spoon, lift the solids out into a food processor (or blender) and let that sit for now.  Next add the chicken to remaining butter in skillet and saute until completely done and beginning to brown a bit.  Lift chicken out and add to the processor.  Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and almonds to the processor and pulse several times, until nuts and chicken appear to be nicely ground up.  Using a rubber spatula, put the blender contents back into the stew pot.     Add remaining chicken broth, coconut milk, cream, cilantro, all spices and water.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes on lowest heat and serve.  Garnish with a pretty cilantro leaf  and a sprinkle of Garam Masala.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 nice servings of about  1½ c.(more if serving in small cups).  Each serving has:

477 calories

39.7 g  fat

9.65 g  carbs, 3.65 g  fiber, 6 g NET CARBS

23.5 g  protein

580 mg sodium