Crunchy colorful Slaw

Indonesian Chicken and Rice

I did not intend for this first meal blog post to be such a long recipe; however, I know that there are a lot of viruses going around right now and everyone has been getting sick.  So, I decided to make a healthy chicken soup with ginger and turmeric to give the immune system a boost.

Crunchy colorful slaw
*This is just a super easy way to get kids to eat raw vegetables.

• Head of purple cabbage, sliced thin
• Four carrots, julienned
• Broccoli stalks, julienned
• Six radishes, julienned
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Amino Acids (This is a vinegar made from coconuts that is full of amino acids, even more than apple cider vinegar.  It has a slightly sweet flavor.

 Mix all the veggies in a bowl, add about a tbs of olive oil and about two tbs coconut amino acids.  I have made this with other vinegars too and it is a hit every time.


Indonesian Chicken and Rice
 *Paul's family is Dutch-Indonesian.  Several years ago, his Oma taught me how to make Soto Ayam which is a favorite of everyone in the family. It is chicken rice soup flavored with tumeric, lemongrass, kaffir leaves, and ginger.  She showed me how to cook this soup without giving me any exact measurements which is how I make it now.  Soto Ayam is always served with a lot of condiments, hard boiled eggs, and potato dumplings.  I simplified the recipe for the kids and added some spinach to the broth.

• One large shallot, chopped
  
• One small onion, chopped
• A whole chicken (a half could be substituted)
• Fresh ginger (a few inches peeled and cut in large chunks)
• Fresh turmeric (half the amt of ginger, peeled and chunked or about a teaspoon of powdered)
• Kaffir lime leaves
• Lemongrass (one stalk hit a couple times with a pestle or meat hammer)
• Salt
• Spinach, about 1/2 a pound
• Brown rice (I used basmati)

To make the broth, clean the chicken, remove the skin and cut off any fat.  In a large dutch oven, heat a tbs olive oil.  When hot, add the chopped onions and shallots until they soften.  Add the chicken, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, and lime leaves.  I usually put the ginger and turmeric in a tea basket or bag so that I don't have to find them in the broth later and remove them before serving.  The lemongrass pieces I leave large enough that I can just grab out of the broth.  Cover the chicken with water.  Heat on high until it starts to boil.  When a low boil begins, put the lid on top and turn the heat to medium low.  Cook for about 30-60 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, turning over halfway through.  When it is done the meat will be white and the thighs will just start almost falling off.  Take the chicken out of the broth and let rest for a few minutes.  When it is cooled down a little, cut/ tear the meat off the chicken and add back into the broth.  Add salt to taste.  Lastly, add the spinach to the broth.

Serve this over brown rice. For the kids, it will be less like soup and more like a rice bowl.