While I make salmon in the oven and on the grill fairly often, I had never before put fish into a soup. You’ll find it, along with other seafood delights in this easy shrimp gumbo recipe, suitable from stage one of GAPS intro.
So much has happened with our family’s health over the course of the past year, and I really will tell you the whole story when I’m ready, but I’m not. For now, I will tell you, our family is healthier than we’ve been in a long time, in large part due to some bio-medical interventions we’ve undergone earlier this year, and, more recently, the GAPS intro diet.
There was a lot leading up to our decision to undertake the diet again, both positive and negative, but I’m thrilled to say we’re seeing huge gains in just a short while, both mentally and physically, and for now I’ll leave it at that.
After a week, we’re still pretty much sticking with stage one, though we’ve started introducing a bit of ghee. This time around, we’re taking it slow and steady for deeper, more thorough healing.
On stage one of the GAPS intro diet, you can basically have:
- meat stock (not bone broth- read about the difference here.)
- meat cooked in stock til tender
- non-starchy and non-fibrous veggies cooked in stock
- cultured dairy (which we’re skipping)
- sauerkraut juice
- fresh lemon juice
- a little honey
- herbal teas
- that’s about it.
We’ve mostly eaten chicken soup, hamburger soup, boiled meats, stock-cooked veggies pureed into soup… you get the point. So, when my six-year-old kept begging for salmon (let’s be honest, I would kill for salmon with mango salsa right now!), I knew I needed to make it happen. The only problem was that I’ve never really experimented with seafood on the GAPS intro diet.
Today, that changed when I made this shrimp gumbo recipe, and my family was through the roof happy about it.
Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of seafood. I’m just not. So, while I like a good grilled salmon plank or some mahi mahi with a fruity salsa, this soup was not my favorite. I was the exception in my family, as my boys ran back into the kitchen with empty bowls, clamoring for seconds and proclaiming this shrimp gumbo “THE BEST SOUP I’VE EVER HAD!”
There’s nothing better than kids who will willingly eat gut-healing soup on GAPS intro. If you’ve done it before, you know how painstaking it can sometimes be to get children to eat the necessary nourishing, gut-healing foods.
Some notes about this shrimp gumbo recipe
I found raw, organic shrimp in the frozen section at my health food store. I had to peel them myself, which was no big deal. Just start at the top and work your way down to the tail. Those big, gray shrimp cook down into the cute, little pink shrimp we all love.
This soup can be upgraded big time as you progress through the diet, by sauteing the veggies in some ghee and adding some spices. See recipe notes for tips.
Shrimp Gumbo Recipe for the GAPS Intro Diet
Ingredients
- 3 qts chicken or seafood stock
- 1 lb raw peeled shrimp
- 1 lb ground pork
- 8-10 oz wild caught fish planks we use salmon
- 10 oz cauliflower rice
- 1 cup tomato puree
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic pressed
- 3 tsp salt divided
Instructions
- Bring chicken stock to a low boil over medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, combine pork with 1 tsp salt, mix well, and form one inch balls, dropping them into the stock as they're done.
- Add shrimp and fish to stock, along with tomato puree, onion, pressed garlic, and 1-2 tsp salt (add more to taste later).
- Turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add cauliflower rice and simmer for 15 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and use a large spoon or fork to break up the fish planks and disperse through the soup.
- Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
