Even though I love to cook, during the week, particularly in winter when it is dark and gloomy, I can get quite tired and unenthused with time-consuming meals. Therefore, instead of getting home and slaving in the kitchen I like to make quick, simple, nutritious and of course tasty meals. This winter in Melbourne has been particularly cold so to help warm me up on a chilly winter’s night I find that there is nothing better than a bowl of soup.

I decided to make a chicken and vegetable soup for this particular occasion, which is low in FODMAPs and full of nutrients. The chicken provides the bulk of the protein and iron, the vegetables provide fibre along with a range of vitamins and minerals, vitamin A and C in particular, and the lentils provide  carbohydrate, some additional fibre, protein and iron as well as being a great source of magnesium and B vitamins 1, 5, 6 and 9.

Low FODMAP Chicken and Vegetable Soup Recipe:

Serves=6-8 Time=30-40 minutes
Require: 1 Large Soup Pot

Ingredients
– 1 small head broccoli
– 2 medium zucchini’s
– 2 medium carrots
– 2 medium stalks celery
– 1 can brown lentils
– 2 packets FODMAPPED for you chicken stock
– 2 tbs Cobram Estate Garlic Infused Olive Oil
– 500g lean chicken mince
– 1 pinch chilli flakes
– 1 tsp ginger
– 1 tbs chopped lemon thyme
– salt and pepper to taste
– Sprinkle parmesan cheese (optional)

Method
1. Dice vegetables to preferred size for soup.
2. Heat a large pot on med-high heat. Add 1 tbs of garlic infused olive oil, chilli, lemon thyme and ginger, once warm add in chicken mince. Cook chicken mince until browned and then remove from pot.
3. Add the other tbs of olive oil and then vegetables, cook until soft and then add in the can of lentils with juice.
4. Re-add cooked chicken mince along with the chicken stock. If stock doesn’t quite cover the vegetables you may need to add some water.
5. Bring soup to a boil and then turn down heat until soup is simmering. Cover and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
6. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese if desired and enjoy!!

I know what you are all thinking – there are lentils in this recipe!!! Surely I can’t eat those. Well, in fact you can! The FODMAP Friendly App states that you consume half a cup of lentils in a meal and it still be considered low in FODMAPs. Remember though, if you know that any quantity of lentils will play havoc on your IBS symptoms, then simply omit them and add in some potato or serve your soup with a slice of FODMAP Friendly bread.  Another important point is to always look on the label of canned lentils to ensure there aren’t any unwanted high FODMAP sweeteners or additives. If you are not sure what to look out for then refer to my blog post on ‘Label Reading When on a Low FODMAP Diet’.

The Cobram Estate garlic infused oil is a great addition to this recipe, allowing you to get all the taste of garlic without the uncomfortable IBS symptoms which generally follow, post consumption. Cobram Estate also do a great roasted onion olive oil, great to bring that onion-y flavour to a dish. I particularly like using it for BBQ’s. These oils are FODMAP Friendly Accredited and wear the little green logo, so look out for them in Coles and Woolies.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Stay warm this winter!