“I live on good soup, not on fine words.”
-Moliere
Soup. The secret weapon in the experienced AIPer’s arsenal of nutrient density!
Before you say anything, I know this is my second soup recipe in as many weeks (see Chilled Out Summer Lettuce Soup for a very different sort of soup number). In my defence, soup REALLY is the seasoned AIPers secret weapon.
And, I want to give you a way to get even more enjoyment out of your Christmas ham!
I don’t know about you, but I have been guilty of putting my leftover Christmas ham bone in the freezer for ‘use at a future date’ and then unearthing it again months later. In my pre-AIP and Paleo days, I would have made a fantastically unctuous split pea and ham soup. Sadly, and I do mean sadly because I really love pea and ham soup, those little split pea bad boys don’t feature in an AIP lifestyle. Especially for a girl on an AIP Reset!
But, we don’t want to waste that fabulous ham bone leftover from Christmas. It’s full of grass-fed, happy porky goodness!
The first step in maximising every skerrick of goodness possible from your ham bone (after you’ve carved off all the lovely ham, of course!) is to make yourself a good, nutrient dense bone broth. If you need some pointers on how to make a good bone broth using a pressure cooker (which is the way I make it) – here’s the way I do it.
Once you have your ham bone broth made, you’re good to go.
In this world, there are two types of people – those who like to eat off a plate – with all their food in neat-yet-separate mounds, and those who prefer to sup from a bowl. I’m firmly in the latter camp.
And, that means chunky ‘meal in a bowl’ soups are right up my alley!
This particular number is chock-full of goodness. It’s a nutrient dense power-house of a soup and it’s full of flavour. The only downside for me is that I only had one hambone… I could eat this again and again!
Serves 8-10
- 2 tablespoons duck fat (or happy fat of choice)
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 2 litres (68 fl.oz) ham bone broth
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes
- 2 stalks celery, washed and diced into approximately 1cm cubes
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 medium sweet potatoe (approx. 450g/16oz), peeled and chopped into 1cm dice
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 zucchini, washed and chopped into 1cm dice
- ½ bunch of chard/silverbeet, washed, stalks removed and shredded into ribbons
- 450-500g (1 lb) shredded ham off the bone
- Salt to taste
- Parsley for garnish
- Heat your fat in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Add ham bone broth, diced carrot and celery, garlic, sweet potato and turmeric. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add zucchini and cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Add chard ribbons and shredded ham off the bone and simmer until the greens are wilted, about 3 minutes.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed.
- Serve hot garnished with freshly chopped parsley.
E N J O Y !
