Spicy peanut broccoli soup, and a note about CSA's

Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables. It's one of the most nutritious of veggies, and I find that it complements the flavors of spices beautifully.

For this soup I used red lentils and white basmati rice, but green French lentils would be nice, as would brown rice, quinoa, or millet. About 1/3 cup of each, washed, rinsed and then brought to simmer in 1.5 quarts of water. When it comes to a boil, I transfer it to the crockpot and let it cook on high for about an hour.

Then comes the fun part:

• Bring 2 Tablespoons of organic sesame oil to medium/high heat and then add a dash of brown mustard seeds. When they start to pop, turn the heat down to medium/low.
• Add a "thumb size" amount of fresh ginger root, finely chopped or grated.* Sautée for about 30 seconds.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of red chilie flakes, or more if you like it hot. A dash of hing (asafoetida), or one inch of leek or a garlic scape—finely chopped—are also delicious, nutritious options. Sautée briefly.
  
• Stir in a heaping Tablespoon of organic peanut butter and blend with the spicy oil.
• Add 2-3 cups of prepped veggies and stir to coat the veggies with the spicy oil mixture.** I love the taste of broccoli in this soup, but zucchini, eggplant, green beans, and/or carrots are also great. (When using eggplant or green beans, add a small amount of water and allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, before the next step.)
  
• Transfer the veggies and spice mix to the lentils and grains in the crockpot.
• Stir in one teaspoon of salt and a dash of turmeric.
• Toss in a handful of peanuts and fresh cilantro right before ladling the soup into your thermos.
  

*To keep ginger root fresh, store it in a small paper bag in the darkest part of your fridge — or peel and freeze to be grater-ready).

** A note about fresh vegetables and Community Supported Agriculture
I've seen time-saving suggestions to chop a week's worth of vegetables in advance. However, as soon as veggies are chopped, they begin to lose nutritional value. (Indeed, once they are picked they start to lose value.) Ayurveda recommends chopping vegetables freshly for each meal, but if you're like me, that's not a practical option. So, my compromise it to prep the night before.

Fresh produce has the best nutritional value and flavor. Short of growing your own garden, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are a great resource for the freshest vegetables. Members pay a subscription fee to a local farm, and during the growing season, receive a steady supply of produce. Although CSA's are winding down for the season in my area, this is a good time to look for one near you. They often offer discounts on early subscriptions for the next season. Joining an organic CSA not only means you can save a bunch of money on high quality food, it also strengthens your local economy, contributes to a healthier environment, and supports the people who are willing to go to all the "trouble" to grow our food! Check out the USDA site about Community Supported Agriculture, click here.

Check out Real Food Wednesdays hosted by kellythekitchenkop.com and cheeseslave.com

Autumn is soup season

As seasons change, you might notice your body making changes too. Here in Western North Carolina, fall came with the honking of geese, a deluge of rains followed by glorious, cool, sunny days, cascading leaves, and darker, sleepier mornings. And the subtle aching of my hip joints...

The weeks of transition from one season to the next is the best time to detox, to alleviate any imbalances that may have accumulated during the previous season, and tune-up our bodies for the coming months. Joints, in particular, can give us clues to our overall state of health. Arthritis, according to the natural health system called Ayurveda, indicates the build up of toxins caused by less-than-perfect digestion. Ayurvedic physicians recommend cooking with ginger and turmeric to cleanse impurities from our system, and improve digestion and absorption. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends the same spices as part of his "anti-inflammatory diet" to reduce arthritic pain (among many other benefits).

Warm vegetable soup spiced with ginger root and turmeric is an excellent way to lighten your diet during a seasonal cleanse. Soup for dinner is a good way to improve digestion and the quality of your sleep. (A heavy meal in the evening is not fully digested before going to sleep, which leads to toxins, says Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf, a medical doctor and expert in Maharishi Ayurveda.) An after dinner walk aids digestion, and is a peaceful way to connect with your spouse, kids, neighbors or your family dog.

Nia fitness helps me keep moving comfortably. On days when my hips feel a little creaky, an hour of Nia restores the bliss, and feels like a warm oil massage! (Which, by the way, is another recommendation from Ayurveda. I love MAPI's Joint Soothe massage oil.)

For more information about Ayurvedic recommendations for joint health, click here.
Also see Dr. Weil's website for information about the anti-inflammatory diet.

For soups made with ginger root and turmeric, and antioxidant rich vegetables, continue reading here!

Enjoy an invigorating autumn (or spring, if you happen to be in the southern hemisphere.)

Too hot for soup?

It's been awhile since I last posted... but yes, we've been enjoying the bounty of fresh, local, organic vegetables this summer. I love the bumper stickers, "Thousands of Miles Fresher"...

It's been too warm to eat hot soup for lunch... but continuing my campaign for fresh and fast, I've been making versions of all the preceding recipes without the soupiness, and using food-grade stainless steel containers instead of a thermos.

My first step is the grain and legume dish prepared with slightly more than 2:1 ratio of water to grain, which I bring to boil then transfer to the crockpot—an hour on high is just about right for rice, quinoa, millet, and lentils.

Half hour before departing for work, I heat 1-2 Tbsp of ghee or oil, grate some fresh ginger root, add a heaping Tbsp of whichever spice blend I'm using that day, and sautée the veggies. Add a small amount of water, just enough to cook the veggies. If I'm using the Thai curry paste, I'll use coconut milk instead of water. Takes about 10 minutes.

For extra protein, I add half a can of organic garbanzo beans, or toss in a handful of sunflower seeds, or pine nuts if we can afford to splurge that week. If I'm really on the ball I make a fresh cheese called panir. I'll save that for another blog entry...

Instead of a thermos I've been using stainless steel lunch containers with snap-on lids. They're lightweight, and don't pose the threat of toxins leaching from plastic containers. Health food stores carry these, or see www.happytiffin.com for nifty, stainless steel food containers.

Hubby especially likes it when I put a Dr. Kracker flatbread on top of the grain and veggies—the heat softens the impact of these delicious but exceedingly crunchy crackers! I like Dr. Krackers because they taste great, have no sugar, use only organic whole grains, and have a fairly high protein to carb ratio. Check 'em out at www.drkracker.com—"Home of the Uber Crunch".

Young Coconut and Date Smoothie

Okay, this isn't soup, but I can't resist sharing this delicious treat.

Coconuts are full of vitamins and minerals, lower in fat than whole milk and have no cholesterol. The juice is a wonderful "sports drink" with natural electrolytes. Fresh is best, so if you've seen those strange white coconuts in the store and wondered about them, give this a try.

Choose a white coconut (the green outer layer is cut away to reveal the white husk. Brown coconuts are simply more mature and dry). Avoid any that are yellowing, or look a little purple on the bottom. The bottom should be firm or slightly yielding but not squishy.

You'll need a hefty cleaver or large chef knife to open the coconut. Tell everyone to stand back and whack an opening large enough to get a spoon inside the shell. This is my hubby's job. He makes a square opening with four mighty blows.

Pour the juice into a blender. The meat is wonderfully scoopable, almost like pudding. Enjoy some as is, and add the rest to the juice, careful to remove any husk fibers. Add three medjool dates (pits removed) and blend.

It just might be the yummiest thing this side of heaven.

Thai-inspired Coconut Vegetable Soup

I love Thai food and recently I've explored ways to make a coconut-based soup adapted to my crockpot lifestyle. This one turned out pretty good. I hope you agree!

Coconut milk is nutritious and cooling, according to traditional ayurvedic medicine — which is probably why it is frequently used in spicy Southeast Asian cooking. Although coconut milk is high in calories (about 250 per half cup), nutritionist George Rapitis says, “The saturated fat in coconut is made up of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids that the body quickly turns into energy instead of storing as fat.” But if you’re concerned about calories, try light coconut milk.*

Thai-inspired veggie soup (everything organic, of course):

1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
Wash and add about 1.5 quarts of water
Bring to a boil and transfer to your crockpot.
Stuff as much lemongrass dry herb as you can in a tea infuser and let it cook in with the grain and lentils. Fresh lemongrass directly in the soup would also be wonderful if you can find it.

Simmer on high, and come back after your morning routine, at least half hour or until the lentils are soft.

Add 1 cup prepped broccoli, and 1 cup yellow or green beans cut into manageable pieces. (I’m delighted to have so much local organic food available in my area!)

In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of coconut milk, add 1 full Tbs of fresh grated ginger root, and 1 full tsp of Green Thai Curry Paste, and 1/2 tsp of turmeric. Simmer for 1-2 minutes then transfer to the crockpot.

Add 1 level tsp of mineral salt, and a handful of fresh cilantro leaves.

Stir, ladle, and away you go with thermoses in hand! (Makes about 4 servings)

Alternatives to try: Rice would be nice as a substitute grain. Basil instead of cilantro would make for equally yummy variety. Zucchini, yellow squash, and mung bean sprouts would be delicious alternatives. A handful of sunflower seeds would be tasty and add protein. Tofu would be good too. This recipe is pretty mild, so you could add some red chilis or more ginger if you like it hot.

* Check out a fun website for nutrition and fitness info: www.livestrong.com. According to the customizable calorie and fitness tracker, I can burn the calories from the coconut milk (based on 2 servings of this soup) by surfing or playing competitive volleyball for an hour. If I’ve used light coconut milk, 20 minutes of vigorous barn cleaning will do the job...

Summer potato and broccoli soup

Here's a quick post to say today's soup was quite good. I'll just give basics, and you can review details in other posts since the methods are pretty much the same.

Step one:
1/2 cup green lentils (everything organic, of course)
1/2 cup millet

Step two:
Sautee 1 Tbsp Smart Spice mix (see May 20th post) in 2-3 Tbsp sunflower oil on med-low for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Stir in about 2 cups of prepped veggies: broccoli and new potatoes (the kinds with thin skins. Peeled and cut into small pieces), and parsley or other fresh seasonal greens if you like.

Add 1 tsp mineral salt.

And away you go! Enjoy :D

Summer Italian soup

This is Italian in name only, because I'm using "Italian herbs" and I have some Italian ancestry...

Local organic asparagus is still available at my neighborhood farmers market, so I'm using it often. This would be a nice cold or cool soup, so simply remove the lid from the thermos about an hour before lunch if you don't want hot soup on a hot day... But it's better not to put it in the fridge to cool. According to ayurveda (the natural health wisdom of ancient India), once cooked food is refrigerated it loses nutritional value and is not as easy for our bodies to digest. Ayurveda frowns upon leftovers, and that's one of the reasons I've started this crockpot project...

The basics:
1/2 cup Green Lentils
1/2 cup Millet
1.5 quarts of water.

Bring to boil and transfer to the crockpot.
Stuff as many sprigs of fresh thyme as you can in a tea diffuser that snaps closed, and leave it in the soup while cooking. (It takes too long to trim the tiny leaves off the stems, but if you have time there's no reason not to chop them finely and put in the soup.)

I have fresh oregano growing in a pot on my deck, and I used 3 springs, each about 3 inches long, finely chopped and tossed into soup. Fresh marjoram would also be nice.

While we did our morning routine I let the soup simmer for about an hour.

Before leaving for work, I added a cup of chopped parsley and a small bunch of asparagus that I cut into little pieces last night. (I also added broccoli, but now I'd suggest a medium size zucchini instead. Steam or bake whole for best flavor then cut it up and add it to the soup. But it also works just chopping uncooked zucchini and adding it at the end, since it will cook in the thermos, as will the asparagus.)

Add 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil or sunflower oil, and 1 level tsp of mineral salt. Remove the tea diffuser and bay leaves before ladling soup into thermoses. (Don't forget the bay leaves—they are sharp and can hurt an unsuspecting mouth.)

Kiss your significant-other (or pet) goodbye and have a great day!

(I realize my grammatical structure is inconsistent... I'm talking to you, and describing what I did, as if you were here in person!)