Tasty Tuesday- The Fast Metabolism Diet: Phase 2 Chicken and Veggie Soup

If you are doing the Fast Metabolism Diet program, it is no secret that Phase 2 is KILLER.  Eating nothing but protein and veggies can leave you gagging at the words chicken and broccoli at the end of 4 weeks.  I am kind of picky about the veggies I like, and I am not a fan of sea food.  This leaves me with very little options for what I can make for my Phase 2 meals.  Luckily, the book has a recipe for a chicken and veggie soup that is really good and gives a little diversity to your meals if you're in a chicken and broccoli rut like I was.

Chicken and Veggie Soup (from The Fast Metabolism Diet book)
Phase 2
Serves 6-8 people

• 1 whole chicken or chicken parts, skin removed (I just used 4 big boneless skinless chicken breasts)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 6-8 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 8 cups chopped fresh or frozen veggies (Anything can go into this soup. I used kale, spinach, celery, chives, mushrooms, squash, and zucchini.  Broccoli, cabbage, leeks, and asparagus would be good too.) 
• 1 Tbs parsley or cilantro
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Put the chicken in a large soup pot with broth and 8 cups of water.  Add the vegetables and herbs.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Let cool, then remove the chicken and debone (I skipped this step since I just cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts and cubed it up before I started making the soup).  Add your chicken meat back to the soup if you deboned the chicken, reheat, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

I ended up making half of this recipe, and it was enough for me to make 2 bags of soup to freeze for future meals.  I used a serving and a half since I have more than 20 lbs I am wanting to lose.  It was a LOT of soup.  Make sure to label your soups with what phase it is for, so you don't get confused if you have multiple soups in your freezer.

This isn't my favorite every day soup, but in the midst of Phase 2, it was amazing.  It tasted like chicken noodle soup, but instead of noodles there were a lot of veggies.  I made sure to chop my veggies very small so it all kind of blended in with the broth. 

Next week I plan to do an overall review of The Fast Metabolism Diet since I will have completed all 28 days.  I will show what worked for me, and what I am going to change for the next time around (that's right, I am going to do another 28 days). 

*If you are doing the FMD and have any tips for Phase 2, I would love to hear them.  Don't be shy and comment below.  I love hearing from my readers.