Green Tea Flu Shot Soup

The day after participating in a Twitter chat about tea and wellness last week, I fell ill.  Slightly ironic, I think. Sore throat, fever, stuffy head – you know, the works.

Inspired by the wellness chat, I used what energy I had to whip up this quick chicken, noodle and vegetable soup, infused with lots of immune boosting, antioxidant rich, anti-inflammatory and vitamin packed ingredients that I happened to have on hand.

For a super-charged green tea infusion, I chose to grind the tea leaves and add them as seasoning to the soup at the end of cooking process. With a dollop of ginger and a dash of chile paste, this hot soup helped me sweat some cold and flu toxins and kept me nourished all weekend.

Happy cooking and sipping!

P.S. If you’re on Twitter, follow #WellnessChat on Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. EST to participate in weekly conversations about different wellness topics.

By Suzanne Klein, Tea Foodie

Makes 2 large or 4 small servings

1 tablespoon grapeseed (or canola) oil

½ large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, finely diced

4 or 5 pieces of kale, leaves removed from stems and chopped into small pieces, and stems finely diced

4 cups chicken broth

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ cup small, thin dried egg noodles

1 tablespoon loose leaf green tea leaves, ground in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle (I used China Chun Mee from Tea Gschwendner)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Sambal chili paste, to taste (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, add the onions and garlic, and sauté over medium-low heat until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the ginger, celery, and kale stems to the onions, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer. Add the chicken breast, and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the chicken breast and place it on a cutting board to cool for a minute.

3. Add the kale leaves and noodles to the broth, and simmer for about 5 minutes. While the kale and noodles are cooking, shred or cut the chicken into small pieces, and then add it back to the simmering broth.

4. Season the soup with the ground tea, soy sauce, and ground pepper. Serve hot, with a dash of Sambal chili paste (if using).

Tips:

• Instead of adding ground tea as seasoning, you could steep the loose leaf tea leaves in a muslin bag in the broth for about 5 minutes when you add the kale and noodles.

Variations:

• You could use any veggies in this soup, e.g. carrots, peas, corn, cabbage, spinach or chard would all be great.
• You can make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken and using a veggie broth. And you can make it gluten-free or vegan by using diced potato, leftover rice or rice noodles as the starch, instead of egg noodles.