We’ve had a bit of a stomach bug going around at the house and I had a yen for some chicken soup.  I decided it was time to do a little research and see what I could find that would cover the basics for a mellow soup on the most tender of stomachs.  This soup is nice and meaty with good flavor but not to heavy.

Jazariyya

(Chicken (or beef) Soup with Walnuts, Parsley and Spinach)

 

Translation:

Boil meat with a little water.  Put carrots, garlic cloves and peeled onions in it, then put crushed garlic in it.  Some people put spinach with it also; some make it with out spinach.  Walnuts and parsley are put in.  (Rodinson, pp. 471)

Ingredients:

1 chicken or equivalent chicken parts i.e. chicken thighs (if using skinless/boneless thighs or breast cook in low sodium chicken stock or preferably home made chicken stock)

OR

2 ½ lbs beef, lamb or goat

 

3 carrots   8 garlic cloves   1 onion   3-4 C baby spinach roughly chopped

1 handful parsley   1 handful roughly chopped walnuts

 

Redaction:

When I did this recipe I changed things up slightly.  I made this as a chicken soup even though this soup can encompass any type of meat.  Don’t think of this as one type of soup only.

This just looks so fresh from the garden!  The carrot and parsley were plucked minutes before tossing everything together.

I cut up the chicken thighs, still slightly frozen for ease in slicing into bite sized pieces and threw them into the water.

In period, a whole chicken would have been used not just pieces like we can get modernly.  If using skinless/boneless chicken parts use a low sodium broth or a home made broth.  This will really kick up the flavor.  You can use a broth for other meat if you like however beef lamb and goat are all marbled with fat while modern chicken pieces have been stripped of skin and bones that add to the richness of a broth.

Add in the carrots,

I know this looks sort of like a turnip or parsnip but it’s a carrot from my garden.  Not the common orange but a white variety.  Most of the time, I use the baby carrots.  Some times I chop them in half but usually I leave them whole as this is a time savor.  Period wise for ME cooking that the carrots (either yellow or purple) be cored to remove the woody pith and the outer portions chopped for the dish being prepared.  They didn’t have the selection of carrot varieties we do today.

4 peeled garlic cloves

and the chopped onion.

Here everything is put into a pot bit by bit!

I did add spinach.  I’ve been adding handfuls of this wonderful veggie to give an extra vitamin and fiber boost (and not just to my period recipes).

The spinach was roughly chopped and cooks down.

I did not want to just throw spinach leaves in as they some times are a bit unwieldy if not cut into smaller pieces.

Once these have been added take the remaining garlic cloves and chop them up pretty fine.

When the recipe calls for crushed garlic I believe this is meant crushed in a mortar and pestle.  Chopping the garlic fine is close but not exact, we just want as much flavor as we can get so the more surface area exposed to the forming chicken broth the better!

I simmered everything for about an hour and added roughly 1 ½ tsp of salt (to my taste).

Once the soup was served I added parsley and walnuts.

I was unsure whether to add the parsley and walnuts during or after so I erred on the side of caution and used as a garnish.  I did add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to the dish for extra flavoring.  This is a very mild soup but very filling.  The rye bread was an extra bonus for the day.  Pairs very nicely together!

 

This is a very warm and tasty soup with lots of health foods too!