I get very hungry at lunch time and only have an hour to eat so I tend to rely on a toasted sandwich or a mug of soup. Occasionally I will have leftovers such as ’empty the fridge’ chicken casserole or chicken, lentil, spinach and sweet potato curry topped with some natural vegan yogurt. Actually the ’empty the fridge’ chicken and vegetable casserole also empties the vegetable drawers, the cupboards and parts of the freezer. I will be posting a blog on that later this week.
In this blog I am including a toasted sandwich and one of my favourite soups which I make when we are experiencing storms blowing in from the sea,
Chicken salad toasted rolls
I have mentioned Marks and Spencer’s GF bread before. In this lunch I used their super-seeded rolls which are topped with golden linseed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds; I split the rolls open and lightly toasted both sides.
The filling was leftover chicken and hard boiled egg finely chopped and mixed with 1 tablespoon of Hunter & Gather Avocado Oil mayonnaise which has just 4 ingredients; then a touch of pepper to taste. I piled this onto the buns and enjoyed them. The rolls have a substance and flavour that some GF bread doesn’t have which is enhanced by the toasted seeds.
Chicken, mushroom and ‘rice’ soup
This is very easy to make. I used 2 pints of chicken bone broth that was in the freezer; it’s concentrated so I was able to add water as you need to ensure the ingredients are covered by liquid. Heat the stock up in a pan, add 4 free range chicken breasts or thighs and start poaching them. Then chop as many mushrooms as you like. Pour in a tin of full fat coconut milk and add cauliflower rice. I don’t add seasoning until its cooked.
Simmer this for about 40-45 minutes. remove the chicken onto a plate and shred. Use a hand blender to reduce the size of the mushrooms. Add the shredded chicken back in and blend lightly to reduce the size of the chicken while still keeping it in pieces. I once over-blended it and I didn’t like the texture. You need to see pieces. Let it cool for 5 minutes and then taste and season. It’s a delicately flavoured soup. I added some freshly-ground Mediterranean sea salt, a little black pepper and some Herbes de Provence. It is nice with fresh herbs but it was raining heavily; call me a wimp but..!
This is a Paleo recipe; the soup is like a hug when you drink it down. I sometimes have it for a light evening meal; it freezes well.
I just remembered to take a photo before I finished my mug of soup.
essentialonion 