I’m not actually on the GAPS diet, but I’m writing about it for an upcoming magazine edition. I came up with this recipe because I was thinking about how monotonous the first phase of the GAPS diet must be (though brief, thankfully). And then how over the next year or so you’re drinking meat broth and a little sauerkraut juice or something fermented with every meal.
Every. Meal.
So how do you make something so basic fun? You add some confit garlic oil (which is also FODMAP-friendly). You blend in less or more of the vegetables to make it thicker, richer or lighter. To me, the only upside of GAPS over some of the other diets for SIBO is that you get to eat more fermented dairy, but as a highly sensitive lactose intolerant person, this makes no difference for me. As much as I’d love to eat more sheep’s milk cheese, my gut doesn’t want me to, and it objects with bloating and discomfort and even a rapid heartbeat, .
WHAT’S GAPS?
GAPS, or Gut and Psychology Syndrome, is a diet used to treat SIBO. It’s a fair bit like SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) but includes more fermented foods and is based on this meat broth (not regular chicken or beef stock or broth). “The gelatinous soft tissues around the bones and the bone marrow provide some of the best healing remedies for the gut lining and the immune system,” writes Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia.[1] The stock is made from a whole chicken or chicken bones with a good amount of meat on them for a relatively short period of time compared with a long-cooked stock made with just bones and vegetables. People with SIBO often find the high concentration of glutamic acid in longer cooked stocks hard on the gut.
In the introductory phase of the GAPS diet, vegetables are avoided and then added back gradually until digestion improves, so make this soup with as many or as few of the vegetables as you wish. You can make a vegetarian version of this for the SCD, low-FODMAP and AIP diets by using vegetable broth and leaving out the meat.
Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Confit Garlic Oil
Serves 6-8
Meat Stock
1 whole chicken, skin on, cut into 8 pieces
1 tbsp sea salt
2 bay leaves
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Place the ingredients in a large pot and cover with water by one inch. Bring to a boil, skimming the scum as it rises, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially and simmer for 1 ½ hours.
Remove the chicken pieces to a bowl and discard the bay leaves. Strain the broth to remove impurities. Remove the skin from the chicken and optionally blend it back into the stock with an immersion blender. This makes for a thicker and more nutritious stock.
Remove the meat from the bones, shredding it into bite-size pieces for soup. Discard the bones, or freeze them to make a long-cooked bone broth in a later stage of the GAPs diet.
Garlic Confit Oil
1 head garlic
Olive oil
Peel the garlic cloves and place them in a small saucepan with enough olive oil to cover. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook gently for 45 minutes. If the garlic starts to brown, lower the heat further. Strain out the garlic clove. The oil will keep for up to two or three weeks in the fridge.
Chicken and Vegetable Soup
1 tbsp garlic oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 summer squash, chopped
2 branches of celery, chopped
½ tsp sea salt
1 branch thyme, or ½ tsp dried
1 branch rosemary, or ½ tsp dried
1 branch oregano, or ½ tsp dried
1/2 tsp dried parsley
½ cup chopped green onions (green parts only) or chives
10 cups meat stock or vegetable stock
3 cups or more shredded cooked chicken
2 cups baby spinach or regular spinach torn into bite-size pieces
In a large pot, head the garlic oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, summer squash and celery and cook for five minutes, until softened slightly. Add the salt, spices, stock and green onions and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Transfer half the vegetables to a blender or use an immersion blender to partially blend, leaving half of the vegetables intact. Return the puréed vegetables to pot and add the cooked chicken. Heat until the chicken is warmed through, then stir in the baby spinach.
Add salt to taste, divide between bowls and drizzle garlic oil over each serving as desired.
Here’s some more info for anyone interested in GAPS:
[1] https://www.ibsdiets.org/ibs/sibo-diets-gaps-diet-and-scd/
[2] https://www.thefamilythathealstogether.com/8-mistakes-youre-making-gaps-intro-diet/
[3] http://www.gapsdiet.com/gaps-full-diet.html
[4] http://www.gapsdiet.com/about.html
[5] https://www.nourishingplot.com/2015/07/04/chicken-meat-stock-a-step-by-step-gaps-lesson/
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