Mulligatawny has been one of my very favourite soups since my days working at Earls long, long ago.  While I haven’t seen in on their menu recently, I have found a homemade version that I think is every bit as good.  This recipe is actually based off of Pioneer Woman‘s Quick & Easy Mulligatawny.  Now if you know Pioneer Woman, you know that it’s really in your best interest not to muck about with her recipes.  Not even a little bit. Just follow them, exactly as is, and soak up the perfection.  Seriously.  The woman is an absolute master in the kitchen and I promise that you will never be disappointed when you follow her lead.  The one thing that may be disappointed, however, is your waistline.  She goes for the gusto in the kitchen, not making any sacrifices, and it’s rich.  Butter, cream, white sugar… You name it, it’s there.  Which is absolutely fine and dandy once and a while, but when you want to enjoy your favourite soup on the daily, not so much.  So, despite my better judgement, I created a healthified version of Pioneer Woman’s mulligatawny (shhhh….I promise to never do it again) and we enjoy it regularly.

Here’s how we made it today…

To start off, I got my little sous chef working on chopping some garlic.

And while she did that, I quickly chopped up a chicken breast, heated up a pan with some coconut oil, cooked the chicken until it was beginning to brown, then set it aside.

Then I got busy working on chopping an onion and finishing off Miss G’s garlic.

In the meantime, she did a job she’s getting quite good at – peeling carrots.

With Miss G busy with her job, I tossed the onions and garlic into the same pan I used for the chicken, turned the heat on medium low, and let them cook down for a good while.  When they were tender, I added some wholewheat flour and curry powder into the mix, and stirred pretty much constantly as I let it cook for about a minute.

Next, I covered the onions with chicken stock and cranked up the temperature.  Miss G and I quickly got our veggies cut up (we always use carrots and celery, but often throw others into the mix also) and added them into the mix.

Afterwards, when the veggies were just about tender, we added some cream, our milk, a teeny bit of pure maple syrup, a little more salt and pepper, plus our favourite rice blend and brought everything back up to temperature again.

When it was dinner time, my nearly naked chef wearing bloomers that covered her bellybutton (’cause duh – that’s the thing to do right now) topped each of our bowls with fresh herbs and apple cubes (we normally use cilantro and granny smiths, but didn’t have either in the house tonight, so opted for parsley and galas).

And voila – dinner was served!

 

 Hearty {Healthier} Mulligatawny

Adapted from this recipe

• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of wholewheat flour
• 1 tablespoon of curry powder

• 4 cups of no-salt-added chicken stock
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped

• 1/2 cup of half-and-half
• 1 1/2 cups of milk (we use skim)
• 2 cups of rice, pre-cooked (we use a brown rice, daikon radish seed, and black barley blend)

• 1 teaspoon of pure maple syrup
• salt and pepper to taste

• apple cubes (granny smith is best)
• fresh cilantro

Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat.  Add in diced chicken, cook until golden, and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the onions and garlic in the same pot/pan until tender.  Sprinkle flour and curry powder over the garlic and onions, and cook for a minute, stirring almost constantly.

Pour in the chicken stock, turn the heat up to high, and add the carrots and celery.  Cook until the veggies are almost tender, stirring occasionally.

Add in the cream, milk, rice, maple syrup, salt, and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken back in and cook for another 5 minutes.

Allow soup to stand for 5 or 10 minutes and taste.  Adjust seasonings if needed.

Dish into bowls and top with apple cubes and fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!

♥

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