Fast Fast Soup

Periodically, especially after eating out or following holiday-eating "allowances"--the extra calories or bad foods that you don't normally allow into your diet--my husband and I do a form of intermittent fasting as outlined by Dr. Michael Mosley. I'm not trying to encourage you, although, aside from the weight loss, this is one of the best things we can do for our bodies. Our version of fasting involves fasting every other day and keeping calories down to 500 for women and 600 for men.

The fast is not difficult, and I don't find myself feeling hungry, but I do get bored with the food options. On one of my recent fast days, I had a burst of creativity, which led to developing this soup. It's fast to prepare and it's prepared during my fast days, so I call it Fast Fast Soup. We like it so much that I make this even when we're not fasting.

After posting a photo of this soup on Facebook, I received many requests for a recipe, which I didn't have. I made a list of the ingredients and the amounts that I "thought" I'd used, but I had to prepare it again and again and again until the recipe turned out delicious each time. With cooler temperatures approaching, this fast-to-prepare soup is a great weeknight dinner. Heart- and body-warming. Now that I've got the recipe thoroughly tested and re-tested, I thought I'd share it with you.

For a printable recipe, click here.

Baby greens stirred in at the end.

The browned mushrooms and onions add another dimension of flavor without the calories of fat.

Shaved cabbage adds a sweet note and gut-cleaning roughage.

The secret weapon in keeping this recipe low in calories is olive oil spray.

Ingredients:

2 (32 oz) containers organic chicken stock (or your own bone turkey or chicken bone broth)

1 large yellow onion, shaved (will yield about 2 cups)

3 cups shaved white button mushrooms

3 chicken tenderloins, thinly sliced

2 cups shaved cabbage

4 green onions sliced on the diagonal

1 (8 oz) packet pre-washed baby greens like kale, chard and spinach *

4 T light soy sauce

2 t Sriracha

Olive oil spray (I use Bertoli)

Salt and pepper

Directions:

In a large non-stick pan over high heat, use 3-4 sprays of olive oil and toss in the onions. Add a bit of salt and pepper and cook until softened and lightly browned (caramelized). Remove to plate. Do likewise with the mushrooms. Set aside with onions.

Use 4-6 sprays of the olive oil and add the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Deglaze the pan with about one cup of chicken stock and pour into a soup pot. Pour in the remaining stock and stir in onions, mushrooms and cabbage (zucchini too if using). Bring to a boil and continue cooking for about 5 minutes, just long enough to cook the cabbage and chicken.

Stir in green onions, baby greens, soy sauce and Sriracha. Cook 3 minutes longer and remove from heat.

Serve with soy sauce and Sriracha on the side for anyone who wants to spice up their bowl of soup.

*Sometimes I use only 4 oz/half bag of greens and replace with one small zucchini, which yields about 1 cup shaved. If you use this option, add zucchini to the pot along with cabbage.