But when you stop scrolling to look at the details, you discover that the name is just a playful nod to the bright green color of the dish, which is loaded with vibrant herbs, scallions, blanched spinach, and jalapeños. Add garlic and ginger to a blender and mix. That bright, pungent mixture swirls into a relatively mild chicken and rice soup.
Get the recipe: Green chicken soup (swamp soup)
Originally posted by its creator, chef and recipe developer Meredith Hayden. video Of herself preparing it in October. In it, she makes a bold declaration that now seems like her own prophecy. “Chicken Noodle Soup better count its days because there’s a new sick girl soup in town.”
The clip has since been viewed more than 2.2 million times and spawned imitators like a swarm of tadpoles. “Yes, I was influenced by it.” one fan wrote On Instagram. “Somewhere I passed this stunning green bowl and had to check it out. So good!”
“This is amazing.” praised another.
I found the recipe at just the right time. I was recovering from one of the various nasty illnesses that everyone you know seems to have contracted at some point this winter. Like many people, when I’m feeling down, I crave chicken soup and other comforting foods, many of which happen to be on the beige side of the color spectrum. But here it was, this lush bowl with mouth-watering flavors (raw garlic and ginger!) that appealed to my fuzzy palate.
Last summer, I enjoyed watching Hayden’s series of videos. The video featured her documenting her daily life as a personal chef for the rich and famous in the Hamptons. In it, she made meals using produce and herbs picked from her farm and garden that made her wish she had her own staff (and a sunbeam). The dappled seaside patio also makes me sigh). And the bright flavor of Swamp Her Soup reminds you of those warm days, while still offering the comfort of Chicken Her Soup.
I ordered a grocery delivery and after a little simmering and mixing, I ate my entire bowl. I made some adjustments. Instead of using precooked chicken and rice, I cooked both in simmering chicken stock. This means longer cooking times, but fewer dishes. and, Recipes posted by her Hayden suggested on her blog that you start by adding only half the contents of your blender to see if the flavor is too strong. I did so – and continued dumping the entire contents to get maximum flavor.
I added a generous squeeze of the suggested citrus (I used lime because it was the right color for the theme) and a drizzle of soy sauce, which brought out the sour and salty flavors respectively. The end result was just as invigorating as I had hoped, with a kick of raw garlic and a mixture of spicy vegetable greens leaving a thick soup with hearty rice.Even that tasted green.
In an email interview, Hayden said he was a little surprised that the soup turned out the way it did, since he used to make it on the spot on nights when he wanted a big, all-in-one meal. to freeze. “It’s always interesting to see how a lazy weeknight recipe I thought up half asleep becomes so popular compared to a complicated recipe that I tested for weeks until it was perfect,” she said. Ta.
Then again, putting yourself in the shoes (or fluffy slippers) of the people making her recipes may have been the key to their spread. “That’s the thing. People are looking for recipes they can make together anytime.” They are “I was half asleep,” she said. “What’s even better is that it tastes good and makes you feel good.”
Hayden didn’t even call it swamp soup in the first video. One of her fans gave it a catchy nickname, but it shouldn’t be confused with another category of “swamp soup” popular in the South. Many of them contain turnip greens and sausage. Many fans who have made this also demonstrate how highly customizable it is, such as substituting cilantro for parsley and reducing or increasing the amount of green pepper to suit taste. Hayden offered further ideas, suggesting people could use their favorite protein (using white beans instead of chicken and using vegetable stock to make it vegetarian-friendly) and adding a raw flavor. He pointed out that if it’s too strong, you can boil it until it’s soft. A little tame.
I have since shared the recipe with loved ones who complain of sniffles. And that’s exactly what Hayden recently introduced in her YouTube series like: “Dinner with friends” In addition to her Substack community: “Group chat” I had it in mind. Rather than trying to run a whimsical algorithm to create a trendy recipe, she follows simpler instructions. And are you enjoying it?
Get the recipe: Green chicken soup (swamp soup)