Welcome to this week’s edition of the Kos Diabetes Group! As most of you know, it’s almost always food-based when it’s my turn! If you don’t know why I’m passionate about low-carb food, let me give an introduction…
In Jan 2016, after ignoring a rising “pre-diabetic” A1c (stupidly, thanks medical profession for not explaining just how dangerous it was) for four years, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes with an A1c of 7.6. For 6 months I followed recommendations from my primary care doctor/diabetes counselor and the American Diabetes Association. My blood sugar remained high, and I realized while 15-50g carbs per meal was FAR less than the standard American diet it was going to be the literal death of me because my pancreas couldn’t read the bajillion articles saying Complex Carbs were Just Fine.
With my doctor’s approval I embarked on a drastically limited carb intake aka a ketogenic diet and almost eight years later I’m still eating this way. I understand this is not for everyone because all of our diabetic metabolisms, care strategies and outcomes are different, but this is MY way of handling my health. My metformin dose has upped from 500-1500mg daily over the years but that’s to be expected with a progressive metabolic condition. My last A1c was 5.8 and as a nice bonus my cholesterol and lipid panels are well within normal levels.
One of my favorite things about winter is that suddenly soups (and stews, which remind me of very low broth soup :-)) are in heavy rotation for dinner. They’re comforting, easy (often a “put all this stuff in a pot and cook it for a long time”) and no matter what you have on hand, you can make soup. One of my favorite presents this past Christmas was a cookbook of keto soups and stews! I’d had my eye on it for ages but hadn’t gotten around to buying it… and now I have inspiration for lots of new dishes for Casa Brillig! The very first new recipe of 2024 was a chicken “rice” soup to use up leftover turkey that used an ingredient I’d never put in my chicken soup before… paprika. You’re welcome :).
I spent much of last week in New Hampshire with my inlaws, getting some much-needed help with my geneology research while helping out with care for my FIL. I knew I wanted to bring something lowcarb for me to eat that also would be appealing to my MIL, so SHE didn’t have to prepare anything, and I also wanted to leave something delicious for Mr. Brillig and my son. In addition, I’m trying to shop from my chest freezer/pantry as much as possible this January.
What to make that worked for everyone? That’s what I’m sharing today, with how I adapted a recipe to meet all my needs in case anyone feels they must follow a recipe exactly. So, who’s up for some Keto White Chicken Chili? As always, I encourage you to follow the recipe link to read the creator’s instructions (and to give some site traffic love to her!) I’ll give you the ingredients as per the original recipe, with my adaptations (essentially tripling the recipe) as well.
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 lb boneless/skinless chicken thighs (Had a ~5lb family pak of b/s chicken breasts)
3c chicken broth (Used 2 4c boxes of chicken broth, low sodium)
12oz frozen cauliflower florets (Chopped 1 head cauliflower, which turned out to be ~40oz)
4oz fire roasted canned green chilies (2 4oz cans of those mild green chilis in the taco makings aisle)
0.25c chopped onion (Used 1 medium onion)
2Tbs coconut or avocado oil (Forgot to add this. Never noticed its absence)
1 jalapeno, chopped (Used two because that’s what I had)
2 cloves minced garlic (one giant spoonful from the jar of minced garlic in my fridge)
2tsp ground cumin (2 heaping Tbs, we love cumin!)
1tsp salt (used 2tsp, folks can add more at the table)
0.5tsp black pepper (2 tsp because we like pepper!)
Chopped cilantro (garnish, left that w Mr. Brillig because MIL & I are #TeamNoCilantro)
Method:
Step 1: Original recipe said to add everything but the cilantro to a crockpot and cook on low for 8hrs or high for 4hrs. My crockpot wouldn’t hold that much so I pulled out my Instantpot and rather than follow the directions in the recipe for pressure cooking, used it as a slow cooker overnight as it was already 9pm! First time I used my Instantpot in that capacity. Woke up in the morning to continue…
Step 2: However you cooked it all, remove the chicken to a bowl and shred it with two forks.
Step 3: Blend the remaining soup with an immersion blender until smooth and ‘creamy’. I suspect you could use a traditional blender as well, being careful about the whole Hot Liquids aspect of it. The original recipe also says you could add 0.5c heavy cream or coconut cream as well, to make it richer. I didn’t but ended up adding coconut cream later to cut the heat a little for MIL.
Step 4: Add the shredded chicken back to the chili. Serve with whatever garnish you’d like… cilantro, sour cream, avocado, cheese, whatever sounds good!
Those of you who cook for others know the feeling of utter joy when EVERYONE likes the new recipe you made. I took half with me to NH and left half with Mr. Brillig, and we ate it all. Personally I would have enjoyed a little more heat (so I’ll up the jalapenos next time, OR leave the seeds in). My MIL thought it was spicy but adding the coconut cream to keep it dairy free made it perfect for her. It’s thick enough to serve over rice or pasta if you have an 18yo athlete who needs calories, and NO ONE at all said “eww, cauliflower” even though there was an entire head in there!
Nutritional info will vary of course based on what you use, but here’s the details if you make the recipe (4 servings) exactly as the author intended. Per serving:
326 calories; 15.3g fat; 37g protein; 8.1g total carbs; 2.6g fiber
I’m already looking forward to making more new soups and stews. The next three on my radar are from my new cookbook so I can’t link to them, but they’re Dairy-Free Fish Chowder, Roasted Red Pepper Bisque with Spicy Shrimp, and an African Chicken Peanut Stew. I’m writing this at 11am Thursday and I’m hungry for dinner already!! What are YOUR favorite diabetic-friendly soups and stews? I’d love to see what you’re making and enjoying!