My last blog post was on how to make your own nourishing broth. The following recipe is a delicious way to put it to use. If you don’t have the time or have homemade broth on hand, the store-bought broth will also work. There are several high-quality brands of bone broth or stock available now, always try to find organic. This recipe is my own take on Caldo Galego, which is a traditional soup from Galicia. It is also similar to Caldo Verde, which is the soup of close-by neighbor Portugal. My mom is from the beautiful Galicia region of Spain, and I feel lucky to have grown up learning about and eating my mom’s Spanish and Portuguese influenced cooking. The photo of her and I was from a month-long trip we took to her hometown when I was 16 years old. Some 20 plus years ago now, when I was very into soccer! I thought I was pretty cool in my Adidas outfit I got from a street vendor. That trip to Spain is one of my favorite memories. Cooking can be a nice way to distract from the stresses of life, connect with family, and has the unique ability to transport you. Since we are pretty limited in travel right now, let’s take a trip through our cooking together!
I personally am on and off of the autoimmune protocol and also recommend this to many of my patients, especially as a way to help identify trigger foods. The traditional recipe includes white or golden potatoes and beans, so it’s not AIP, but you could sub sweet potatoes and leave out the beans, and it would still be tasty.
Soups make great leftovers to take to work for lunch. I always use glassware and not plasticware for storing and transporting food. A little heavier, but hey, you’ll be getting some extra weight lifting in! The one pictured is by Glasslock. The chemicals in plastic, endocrine disruptors, can leach out into your food and negatively alter your hormones. Try to avoid them, and definitely do not heat food in plastic.
Caldo Galego Ingredients:
- 6 cups chicken bone broth or stock
- 1 pound of potatoes, medium diced (sweet potatoes for AIP)
- 1 large bunch of greens, ribbed and chopped
- 1 finely diced onion
- 2 finely diced cloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- Few slices of bacon, chopped (ham hock is traditional, but this is an easier/tasty variation)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Cook up the few pieces of bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven, then set aside. Remove most of the rendered fat but leave the brown bits or “fond.” Add a couple of turns of olive oil to the pan. Once hot, add the onions and cook until clear, then the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add more olive oil as needed to keep loose. Then add the chicken stock/broth, and potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes start to soften (about 20 minutes). Add the bacon and greens and cook until greens are soft (another 10-20 minutes). I used Kale here, but Turnip Greens or Collard Greens also work. The soup will turn to a creamy consistency due to some of the potato breaking down. If you wanted to use beans (I like to add garbanzo or cannellini beans) and chorizo, like the classic recipe, you could add at the end. I added some leftover chopped rotisserie chicken to this one.
Enjoy!!
