A blended chicken and asparagus soup on a sweet potato base, finished with arugula, asparagus tips, and lemon

This soup takes more steps than a weeknight bowl usually asks for. You sear the chicken and set it aside, build the base from scratch, blend it smooth, then bring everything back together in stages so the asparagus tips stay bright and the chicken stays tender instead of turning to rubber. The extra work pays off in a bowl that tastes like the season, not like effort.

Folate concentrates in asparagus, tied to cell division and to the methylation work your body is doing constantly, which matters more when your system is working to recalibrate. The sweet potato underneath works quietly too, its color a sign of the beta-carotene in there.

The chicken here was a whole bird before it became breasts in a pan. Save the pan juices, use what you have fully, and let the soup's soft green color be something you notice before the spoon goes in.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
• sea salt, for seasoning the chicken
• 1/3 cup water

For the soup:

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 lb Japanese white sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 lbs asparagus, tips reserved, stalks cut into rounds
• 3 cups bone broth
• 1 tsp sea salt
• pan juices from cooking the chicken
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
• 2 cups baby arugula, packed
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method

1. Warm 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken with sea salt and sear until cooked through, adding the 1/3 cup water to keep the pan from drying out. Set the chicken aside to rest and keep the pan juices.
2. In a soup pot, warm 1 Tbsp coconut oil over medium heat. Cook the onion until soft, then add the garlic and stir until fragrant.
3. Add the sweet potato, the asparagus stalks (hold back the tips), bone broth, 1 tsp sea salt, the reserved pan juices, and the thyme if using. Simmer until the sweet potato and stalks are very tender.
4. Remove the thyme sprigs. Add the arugula and blend the soup smooth, in the pot with an immersion blender or in batches.
5. Return the smooth soup to a gentle simmer. Add the reserved asparagus tips and cook briefly, just until tender and still bright.
6. Slice or shred the chicken and stir it back in to warm through. Finish with the lemon juice, taste for salt, and serve warm.

Instant Pot variation

Sear the seasoned chicken on Saute, then set it aside. On Saute, soften the onion and garlic. Add the sweet potato, asparagus stalks, broth, salt, pan juices, and thyme, then pressure cook on high until the sweet potato is soft (a short cook; appliance time untested). Quick-release, remove the thyme, add arugula, and blend smooth. Back on Saute, cook the tips briefly, return the chicken to warm, and finish with lemon.

Notes

• Japanese white sweet potato is Core-compliant; a regular sweet potato works if that is what you have.
• Confirm the bone broth is clean-label with no nightshade-based seasonings.
• Servings and cooking times are not given in the source; the Instant Pot times above are estimates and untested.

*Adapted from phoenixhelix.com*