Whole 30 Lunch: Tuesday morning I woke up to a thunderstorm gusting outside my bedroom window and to my usual kitty alarm clock, better known as Salem, going off to remind me that it was time to get up and perform my only purpose in life, feeding him. It wasn’t exactly chilly out but the sound of the thunder and rain put me right in the mood for soup. Cats with full tummies, I sat down with a large glass of unsweetened tea spruced up with a splash of lemon lime seltzer and watched the storm sweep through the neighborhood. As I continued to wake up, little thoughts of soup began dancing around in my head.

Normally when I’m in the mood for a quick soup for lunch, I heat a couple cups of water to boiling, stir in a generous dollop of Low Sodium Chicken Better than Bouillon, and  drop in a single serving of Ka-Me Japanese Curly Noodles. Basically, my version of that famous orange packaged ramen noodle soup. If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll toss in a handful of carrots and peas. Simple. Quick. Delicious. And, a teensy bit healthier than the orange version. Since I recently discovered that Better than Bouillon, along with dozens of other brands of broth and stock, includes sugar in their recipes I can’t use it for the next few weeks. I’m a little more than put out about this, but I’ve been talking about making and preserving my own stocks for a while now and it seems this is just another reason to stop talking about it and get busy. Perhaps I should ask Santa for a pressure canner this year.

So homemade stock not yet available, I opened up a box of sugar free Pacific Organic Chicken Broth (not an economically feasible frequent purchase…..I’d better dust off those stock pots!) and set about making a warm bowl of soup. And when noodles are out?Zoodles are in! Zucchini to the carb free rescue! I’ll admit this wasn’t exactly as comforting as a bowl of noodle soup, but it was very satisfying and delicious nonetheless. This recipe is pretty basic and can therefore be easily adapted to suit personal preferences.

Quick Zoodle Noodle Soup

Ingredients: 

2 cups sugar free Chicken Stock

1/2 cup spiralized Zucchini

1/4 cup Carrots, diced

1/4 tsp dried Thyme

1/4 tsp Red Pepper flakes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish: Pea Shoots

Method:

In a med soup pot over high flame, bring the chicken stock, carrots, red pepper flakes, and Thyme to a boil. Turn off the heat and add in the spiralized zucchini, salt, and pepper. Allow to rest about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve with a garnish of pea shoots and additional black pepper, if desired.