I feel like I’m playing “The Mom” character in a homestead movie every day these days – It distracts me from it all and gives me a sense of “a role.” I wake up, put on my apron (costume), and get to work cooking, cleaning, or doing some sort of DIY. I have to remind myself to check emails and have calls with my team (reality! no!), but how can I when I have an important soup to make?? Now I’m not a food stylist nor photographer (and it pains me that I don’t have my bins of napkins, bowls, and spoons from our prop storage unit up here), but I am making food and feeling compelled to shoot and share it when it’s delicious – AND THIS RECIPE WAS.
Also, in order to shake up my soup flavor profile (and stay busy/keep anxiety down) I’ve been experimenting SO MUCH. A lot of the vegetables were gone from the store (this was over a week ago), but there was a plethora of peppers and tomatillos, so I looked up how to make a tomatillo soup. I found this recipe, which I made and liked but I wanted more veggies and more heat, so I adapted it and guys – THIS RECIPE IS SERIOUSLY GOOD. Brian’s exact reaction was “Woah, this is good, this could be at a restaurant.” Watch the pretty hysterical but informative video below to see more (but definitely follow the written directions – things changed). For instance, I realized after that the yellow peppers would have been better if they were cooked just a bit because the cherry tomatoes were enough on their own as the cold crunch on top. Also if you can find fresh peppers, roast them along with the tomatillos (just remove seeds if you don’t like super hot – Brian informed me of that, I didn’t know). Oh and I used cumin seed instead of powder (but likely powder would be better, right?). And Brian convinced me to not smash the garlic and just throw it in the pan since we were going to blend it all anyway, but not sure if that releases the flavor the same way.
Now enjoy this quick video tutorial (FYI there’s an ad first so just give it a sec), and if you end up making it please use the hashtag #showemyourfood, even if it’s ugly – although you can read Sara’s post about how to take a REALLY GOOD iphone photo to help. 🙂
Roasted Tomatillo Shredded Chicken Soup Recipe
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 (not four grown men, double it for bigger family) 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
6–8 tomatillos (peeled and washed) or 1 16 ounce can of tomatillos
1 4 ounce can hatch chilis
1/2 4 ounce can jalapeños (or fresh)
1/4 cup cilantro
1 onion (white or yellow, or leeks I’ve done all)
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 large chicken breast
1 tsp cumin (I used cumin seed, but likely ground cumin would be better?)
4 cups chicken broth (or veggie)
4 cups spinach
1/2 cup diced yellow pepperFor garnish (all optional):
1/2 avocado
Cherry tomatoes
Sour cream
Corn Tortilla chips
Instructions
1. Peel and clean tomatillos, then roast in oven at 350 for 20 – 30 minutes (until soft with brown marks)
2. Sauté diced onions and smashed garlic in a large stock pot until transparent and fragrant, add 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
3. Add 4 cups broth to pot, bring to boil, then turn down to simmer
4. Poach chicken in broth for 15 – 20 minutes, then remove and set aside
5. Chop/prep garnishes while chicken and tomatillos are cooking
6. When tomatillos are done, let cool then blend with cilantro
7. Blend tomatillo and onion/garlic broth (chicken removed) in batches til creamy
7. Shred chicken and put back in pot with blended mixture, bring to simmer 10 minutes
8. Add spinach (chopped or baby spinach) and yellow peppers (near end, only need 5 minutes in pot to soften and wilt)
Ladle into bowl, throw on all the garnishes to your pleasure. Put in your mouth. Chew, swallow and enjoy that warm healthy heat in your tummy!!!
Keywords: healthy filling soup recipe
And that’s a wrap! A lot of you might wonder if our kids will eat it. Well, they looked at it (green soup! with green lettuce!) and in their spoiled way did NOT want to eat it. I don’t think they would have liked it anyway, but we are that family inadvertently making separate food for them and us and we are trying to stop it. They love pasta and quesadillas (anything with something white and some sort of cheese), and we love meals very heavy on veggies and lean protein. But we figured now is the best time to make this shift (their palettes are getting more mature) so we are trying to enforce the “we all eat the same thing” meal. And no it wasn’t always this way – at 18 months they ate salmon and avocado, but once they had their first PB and J (I blame their grandfather, Bobba) they were like “THIS IS AN OPTION?”
Our pediatrician reminded us that they do have a different palette and their tastebuds, when young, really don’t like certain things – it can actually taste disgusting to them – and when busy (pre-isolation) it just wasn’t a nightly battle we wanted to fight. So we mostly hide veggies in sauces or burritos or cover them in cheese and salt. But it’s time. So I’d LOVE for any recipe that is really healthy and delicious or maybe easily adaptable to be more healthy or more delicious based on the toppings. Let me know in the comments. xx
We have been making this slow conversion as well…I sometimes do slight modifications. Like if we’re eating turkey meatballs cooked in tomato sauce, I’ll pull aside some of the mixture before adding in the parsley and I’ll pan fry hers separately instead of cooking in red sauce. We’ll make a small portion of pasta for her and skip for ourselves. Faster than two completely different meals, but eases her into us all eating the same food and avoids the “won’t even taste it because of green specs” situation. We’ll do de-constructed salads for her, too, if we do a Cobb salad, we give her the chicken and bacon separate from the hardboiled egg (white only) and slices of cucumber. Presented more kid-friendly, but again faster than making a whole new meal. This epicurious recipe (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/grilled-chicken-thighs-238540) was our gateway into we all eat the same food. We have her help make it so see can see that it’s “sugar chicken” and that started her on eating what we eat. Her cucumber salad was just cucumbers with sesame seeds we let her add herself, ours had soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and roasted sesame oil and a small portion of rice… Read more »
Loved the video! That looks super good. We always need a new recipe, right?
I made this over the weekend and it was so good. I also added a can of white beans, that made the puree extra creamy and added a bit more fiber!
I will definitely be trying this recipe!!
We had a “taste test party” a couple months ago where we went to the grocery store as a family and each picked out a fruit/veggie we love and something we’ve never tried before. (We got books about vegetables from the library about a week before to amp up excitement). My kids (2 and 4) tried EVERYTHING! Radishes, kohlrabi, beets…
So I’ve learned that, just like anything else with kids, if we make it enjoyable they will be more likely to enjoy it.
That sounds so fun!
Wow. Was all warm and fuzzy from the soup video, then slammed with a “conceal carry gun ad.” Turned if off pretty quickly, but are you advocating that???
NO – But thank you for alerting us. We do have a little control over what “kinds” of ads are shown, so we’re going to be looking into this ASAP. Thanks Molly!
Not interested in recipes but at this point I am just glad to see something not virus related 🙂
My boys are teenagers now, but kids always love dips and anything on a toothpick! I recommend serving kids a quesadilla (or grilled cheese sandwich) with a small bowl of soup that you call “quesadilla dip”. It may help them adjust to the stronger flavors. Or serve them a bowl of soup with some toothpicks in the pieces of chicken, veggies, or avocado. Also change the name to something that is kid friendly. We called lasagna “pizza soup” or roasted brussel sprouts “healthy french fries.” Lastly, if they help plan and prepare the meal, they are more likely to at least try it. Hope that helps!!!
While my teenager is a picky eater, she does eat vegetables, but not fruit. The key for her is to keep foods separate, and she really likes finger food. This last part is annoying, but she’s happy to use utensils if the food is something worthwhile, like a bowl of peas and corn or miso soup. I know those don’t sound like foods of a picky eater, but don’t get any fruit near her or foods that are juicy, slimy, sour, or bitter. Once you figure out textures and flavor signatures your kids like, you can make things that you’ll be successful getting your children to eat and earn their trust when you introduce new foods. I’ve also heard that you need to introduce a new food many times. Sometimes just the willingness to have it on their plate will help build familiarity. I’ve also known families that had rules like you have to eat three different foods at each meal. Good luck and thank you for the soup recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
Yum. Totally trying this. I looooove making soups but have never cooked with tomatillos! Fun way to try them. As for kids’ eating— what we’ve learned from my 5 and 2 year old: – they go through phases of what they like and what they’re willing to try. We’re teaching them to be lifelong lovers of food, not just trying to ‘win’ this meal. I read French Kids Eat Everything when my son was little and it’s influenced everything we do with them around eating/food. LOTS of good tips in there, em, that you’d be able to implement right away. Lastly, we have a few key phrases that we use that help us get through meals with less stress: – Knees or bottom. (They must sit on their knees or bottom at all times. This reeeeally helps with focusing them when they’re being antsy.) – Combo bites. If we want them to try something new, we give them something we know they like and help them pair it together — for example an apple with a new kind of cheese. For some reason they really like this. – You just have to taste it. No biggie. Our son, 5, will… Read more »
We used the “you just have to taste it” rule with our daughter. It worked really well. Turned out she loved steamed spinach with butter and lemon – loved, loved, loved it. And many other things. But she also hated some of my favorite foods – raw tomatoes and eggs any style, which stunned me. And now that she’s an adult, she still does not like raw tomatoes or eggs. But she is an adventurous eater who loves many different cuisines. And she eats eggs in Pad Thai willingly. Go figure.
Emily – if you are trying a new food with your kids put a second food on their plates that you know they like. If they don’t like the new food, they can be successful at eating one meal with you by eating the other food on their plates. It’s win/win for all of you.
Yum!!!!! Making this as soon as I can! Do your kids eat it too?
Recommend the Instagram account feedinglittles. They have a (paid) online course but you can follow their InstaStories for free for a lot of tips and ideas for kids. And why kids react the way they do. Plus their content is so body positive!
I was going to recommend @feedinglittles too! So many good ideas!
Ventured to the store today, saw tomatillos- making this tonight!
This looks delicious. We only do one meal at our house and we’ve always done it that way. We typically add hot flavors as a garnish vs cooking in, because my husband loves heat and I’m a medium heat eater. I think maybe we’re lucky to have a good eater (3 yrs) that approaches food with curiosity.
He helps me cook regularly, and we have taste tests often and talk about words tat describe the food: crunchy, tart, etc.
I don’t force him to eat certain things. I often do Fu type soups where the raw leafy greens are in the bowl and I ladle on hot brothy soup. I often use frozen peas to cool his soup down.
The big thing is I ask him about his food thoughts and make cooking and eating healthy part of our family routine.
He loves to look through glossy cookbooks with me.
A few days late here, but I just listened to an awesome episode on Wit & Delight podcast with Jennifer Anderson on about intuitive eating with kids and she had some great advice! https://www.instagram.com/kids.eat.in.color/
We made this last night and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing!
That soup looks amazing!! Looking forward to trying it!
https://thegirlfromconnecticut.com
Looks amazing! Thank you for sharing and I can’t wait to try it!
As far as kids go, it was my experience that it worked best not to take away the kiddie foods they had grown accustomed to and liked but to add new foods. For me, just introducing new foods, flavors, textures and continuing to reintroduce them until my son (in particular) stopped making “THAT FACE” was key. It was like taste bud training. And I think it also helped convince him that he would be FINE if something touched his tongue that he didn’t immediately like. I hope this helps!