Category Archives: Gluten free soup

What’s for lunch: Drunken Chicken Soup

22 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by in Chicken soup, Dancers gotta eat, Diet for dancers, Eating Healthy, Eating protein, Gluten and dairy free soup, Gluten free soup, Healthy Soup Recipe, Quick soup, Recipe, Uncategorized, You are a dancer!

≈ 5 Comments

Drunken Chicken Soup


I struggle to eat healthily amid fast-paced New York life, work, teaching ballet, and directing opera. One of my biggest challenges is making sure I’m eating enough protein. As a dancer, eating lean sources of protein is really important. I know for myself, if I have ready-made food in the house, I’m far less likely to eat popcorn for dinner. I also have something yummy to bring for lunch!
This soup is fast, easy, healthy, and gluten free. I stole the basics for this recipe off the side of a crockpot box, except it included no vegetables! I embellished, eliminating the tomato paste that can trigger acid reflux, substituting hard cider for the beer, and adding carrots, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. The result is a hearty tangy soup that is very satisfying. As a bonus, carrots and sweet potatoes are high in vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, manganese and fiber! If you like olives, this soup is for you! I call it…

Drunken Chicken Soup

  • 2-3 chicken breasts
  • 22-ounce hard cider (or two regular sized hard ciders)
  • 1 1/3 cups water (a little less or more depending)
  • 1 large or two small sweet potatoes peeled and chopped in 1 inch cubes
  • 1-2 small regular potatoes peeled and cut in 1 inch cubes
  • 4-6 carrots chopped
  • I jar stuffed green olives with the juice
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped 
  • 2-3 tsp paprika (more to taste)

Add all ingredients to a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until chicken is cooked– about 20-30 minutes. Remove chicken breasts from the pot and cut into 1/2 inch cubes and return to the soup. Be sure carrots and potatoes are tender before serving. If you use the juice from the olives, you won’t need to add salt and there will be plenty of flavor. Serve and eat when vegetables are tender. Enjoy!

Hot Soup for a Cold Day

15 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in Chicken soup, Diet for dancers, Eating Healthy, Gluten and dairy free soup, Gluten free soup, Healthy Soup Recipe, Low sodium soup recipe, Quick soup, Recipe, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Chipotle soup
It was a beautiful day in New York today – sunshine, blue skies, and four degrees out. I have been enjoying the sun from inside while making soup. I love soup. Warm, savory, and comforting, it it my favorite meal. Before I knew how to make soup, I was a canned soup addict. My roommate at the time, who was a chef, was horrified. She taught me how to make soup, bought me some recipe books, and forbid me from ever eating canned soup again. I’m incredibly grateful for her instruction. I eat a lot healthier (and cheaper!) than I did back then. Now I’m the one sending her the recipes.
As dancers, eating healthy is so important. (As a human, eating healthy is so important!) If you are looking for a good book on nutrition, Diet for Dancers by Robin D. Chmelar is a good place to start. I’m no expert in nutrition, but I know I feel better when I eat lean protein and lots of veggies. Although I do eat meat, I also really like vegetables, and I find restaurants seem to serve either vegetables or meat, and not always both. I also find it is a lot easier to keep my diet healthy when I cook as opposed to eating out.
When I went gluten free a few years ago, I got a little more experimental in my cooking to find some better options. I’d never cooked with hominy before, but my sister sent me some dried hominy for Christmas from Rancho Gordo. I consulted several recipes on line, but none of them had enough vegetables, and some had a lot of fancy ingredients, so I made up my own recipe. I hope you enjoy my version of…
Chipotle Chicken, Hominy, And Vegetable Soup 
1 1/2 cup dried hominy
 5 roughly cut cloves of garlic
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
4 small zucchinis (or 2 large) cut in rounds
1 red and 1 yellow pepper cut in 1 inch strips (any color will do, but red and yellow are fun)
1 diced carrot (I used a yellow one(!), but an orange carrot is perfectly fine)
1-2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder (less or more, to taste)
4-6 cups of water
Two chicken breasts
Salt/pepper
1 lemon
1 avocado
Soak the hominy overnight. When you are ready to make your soup, rinse the hominy, add fresh water and bring to a boil for about 45 mins-1 hour while you are chopping your vegetables. I have found that just soaking the hominy wasn’t enough to get it soft. In a large soup pot, sauté the chopped garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped zucchinis, peppers, and carrots and sauté for a 5-10 minutes until they get soft. Add 4-6 cups of water (depending on the size of your pot and how many vegetables you have) Add the chipotle chile powder. You won’t get the same flavor if you use regular chile powder, the chipotle is the key, so take the time to look for this – totally worth it. If you are sensitive to spice, start with less and then add more to your taste. I get a little more adventurous each time I make this soup, and now I’m up to 2 heaping teaspoons! Add the chicken breasts to the pot and bring the soup to a boil (15-20 minutes). Remove the chicken breasts one at a time to a small bowl and shredded them with two forks and return the shredded chicken to the soup. Add the hominy to the soup. Add some salt and pepper. Add the juice of a lemon. For maximum yumminess, enjoy the soup topped with sliced avocado!
Enjoy!
~Sarah
Join me for ballet class on Tuesdays 7-8pm, and Saturdays 12-1:30pm. Open level ballet. 380 Broadway, Buzzer #5. Only $10 suggested donation. See you there!