Easy Cabbage Potato Soup

Ohhh! We do love the smell of soup in the winter! This cabbage potato soup is a winner! So says the King! He said this soup gets even better every day too! Making this healthy soupy stew the night before serving would be a fantastic idea. Let those flavors marry overnight! So romantic! Just like the King and I.

Since I tend to make my soups from whatever is around the kitchen, I wondered what beans would go with cabbage and potato? White navy beans would not fight the flavors. Luckily we had them in the pantry. Okay, Go! Just add mirpoix and spices. Easy!

Cabbage Potato Soup

(All ingredients are organic - especially the potatoes!)

4 celery stalks chopped

3-4 carrots sliced

1 yellow onion chopped

6-8 small buttery potatoes chunked

1/2 or 1 very small head of cabbage chopped into large pieces

1 box low sodium vegetable broth

4 cups of spring or filtered water

2 bay leaves

2 Tbs Dr. Fuhrman's veggie zest or 1 Tbs ground sage

Big handful of Bouquet garni spices

1 can white navy beans

Himalayan salt, garlic salt, and fresh ground pepper to taste

Optional additions to above recipe:

1 cup of chicken broth and then omit 1 cup of water.

6 sliced white mushrooms

Place the mirpoix of celery, carrots, and onion in stockpot. Add potatoes and cabbage. Add liquids and spices. Bring to a simmer then add rinsed navy beans. Simmer 2 - 4 hours or more. I let mine sit on the back of the stove on the lowest setting when everything is done. The King comes in for late suppers. Salt and pepper to taste. As always with soups and stews, you can adjust every ingredient to your own desires.

This makes a very satisfying soup that will thicken slightly each day as the potato and cabbage break down. Want to add more body to the soup liquid? Take a cup of the cooked soup ingredients, mash it up and add back to the pot. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you do not have a jar of Bouquet Garni in your spice collection then make your own mix of rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, dill, marjoram, sage, and tarragon. The tarragon tastes especially nice in this soup.

Only eat organic potatoes. Those nasty fungicides go deep into the flesh. No more toxins in our food, or our loved ones. Be happy! Be healthy! Be peace!

Butternut Squash Apple Black Bean Stew

Oh those tastes of fall! Get your warm and cozy on with this sweet butternut squash stew. We received a butternut squash from the CSA, and I had planned on making a standard veggie soup similar to the Pumpkin black bean soup I made recently. As I was chopping the celery and onions, I went to reach for some carrots, and passed by my big bowl of apples. I stopped and thought to myself, "What would happen if I used only the butternut squash as the third mirepoix ingredient instead of the usual carrot with the celery and onion? Then instead of vegetable stock, add water, and put a few apples into the mix. Perhaps some raisins too. Hmmm. Sounds like those fall seasonal staples would work together to me!"



Yes they did! What a winner of a dinner at that! Hubby loved this stew/soup so much he stopped the movie we were watching, just to tell me how much he loved it! This is so very easy to make! Seems I never know whether to call these creations soups or stews. Especially this one with apples and raisins in the main dinner entree. Oh well, one thing is for sure... it is deliciousness! Enjoy this naturally sweet taste of fall with nutritious seasonal ingredients. Did I tell you that the leftovers get even better?  Mmmmm.

Butternut Apple Black Bean Stew

1 Butternut Squash

4 stalks celery

1 onion

2-3 apples (I used Gala, Granny Smith would work)

48 oz. spring water

1 can rinsed black beans

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ginger 

1/4 tsp turmeric

Ingredients are organic. Wash, then peel the squash and apples. Chop the squash, celery, onions, and apples. Add to stock pot with 1/4 cup water to saute and sweat ingredients. Add spice, then the remainder of the water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then remove about a cup and a half of the mixture. Mash it up and return it to the stew. Add the beans and raisins. Simmer for 30 minutes more. Adjust your spices, add more as needed for taste. Garnish with apple slices. Easy, sweet, light, and oh so wonderful. Don't forget to have a fresh salad, and drink a glass of fresh green juice! We are all about the power of great everyday nutrition!

 

Epic Pumpkin Bowl FAIL! Plus A Cauldron Of Vegan Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Fall is officially here! The food blogs are filled with a deluge of frothy pumpkin latte recipes, a side of pumpkin muffins, and a beautiful photo of stacked pumpkin spiced cookies. So pretty, and I can smell it all now... yes, it's smelly good! Although back at the bat cave we were summoning a misty mellow Halloween evening when we experienced... "Attack of the Killer Pumpkin!" Bad pumpkin! Bad pumpkin! It happened during my first fall season while learning about whole foods. Excitedly I attempted to create a pair of those very cool carved pumpkin bowls in which to serve up my pumpkin black bean soup. Things did not go well in the Painting Queen's kitchen on that dark and gloomy evening, it was ...(cue the voice of Vincent Price) ...my EPIC FAIL! Let's enjoy the holiday madness shall we.... !?!!@!%&!

I carved the first little pumpkin's top off in a flash! No problem-o! Carving jack-o-lantern pumpkins for outside home decor like most people, I figured this second little pumpkin was no biggie to tackle either. My thick sharp knife went securely into the second pumpkin, and immediately was stuck! I pulled... I yanked. No response from the knife. Was this the sword in the stone, or what? Hmmm.

I am not messing around with this little orange terror! I got a hammer! Don't under estimate the Queen!

In order to get the knife to move I had to slam a hammer against the handle. Took 47 minutes to open!

Inside of this pumpkin looked like ewwww! Something was not right. The skin of the pumpkin was like a hard crust. You can see how thick and gnarly it looks. Not very appetizing huh? Then it hit me, duh! I had me a regular decor pumpkin. Not a pumpkin pie pumpkin! Oh Geez! Hubby, please run out to the store! Soup is on the stove, and my cauldron is bubbling! One rock pumpkin headed to wicked front step duty!

Compare how the decor pumpkin looks very much like the pie pumpkin from the outside. The difference is in the meat and the much thinner skin on the pumpkin pie pumpkin. Should only take minutes to slice off the top. You can see how much cleaner the cut looks too! Yes, sweet hubby went out and got us a proper pie pumpkin, for our individual Halloween soup bowls. The new pumpkin was tiny although it worked in a pinch. Don't forget to eat the insides of your semi-edible bowl while you enjoy the soup! 

Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

4 stalks chopped Celery 

2 chopped Onions

3 chopped Carrots 

1 - 2 cloves of minced garlic

4 - 6 Organic red french fingerling potatoes cut into chunks

1 box of organic vegetable broth

1 bottle spring water

1 can organic pumpkin (not pie mix)

1 can organic black beans rinsed

3/4 cup organic frozen corn

1 tsp Garam masala

1 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Rosemary 

1/2 tsp Thyme

Optional
2 or more organic pie pumpkins (Sugar pie, Cinderella) for bowls and chunks
1 - 2 cups of organic chopped pie pumpkin

Start with chopping and gathering your organic ingredients. Prepare a mirepoix in your stock pot of celery, onion, and celery. Sweat veggies, turn, and add spices. Add the broth and the rest of your ingredients. Bring to boil then simmer soup on low for a few hours. Adjust for your spice preferences. If you are making pumpkin bowls for serving: Purchase pie pumpkins! Yikes! Be sure they are the correct kind! Should only take about 15 minutes or so to carve and scoop a small pumpkin. If you need a hammer... it's not fer' eating!

Simply cut the top off to use as a lid, and scrape out the inside seed and fiber area. You can sprinkle the inside with some nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. Wet the stem of lid and cover with foil. Place pumpkins and lids on cookie sheet or roasting pan in 400 degree oven for 20 - 35 minutes till tender. Time will depend on size of your pumpkin. Place carefully on serving dish and ladle in your finished soup. You can cover bowl with handy dandy matching stemmed lid to keep warm till serving time. Don't forget to scrape out the pumpkin meat from the pumpkin as you eat! Yum! Bonus food fun!

Well that was quite a 'food horror story' my sweet little pumpkins, and that seasonal Fall soup is really smelling good in the castle tonight! Yo Vincent! Get over here, it's time to feast!

Yum! Vegan Cream Of Broccoli Carrot Soup

Oh this soup is so freaking good! So thick! So creamy! Amazing really! A cashew cream soup is a rare treat, but one worth creating! You don't eat this amount of fatty nuts and seeds everyday, so cherish them fully when you do create a dish that includes a cashew cream base. It's not great for weight loss, although it's certainly more flavorful and healthy than dairy! So it makes a great transition from dairy and store bought soups. This homemade soup tastes so fantastic you will want a second bowl for sure. If you decide to indulge your craving for seconds, take only half a cup. Save some for another day as this soup will fill you up and you will get to rejoice in the goodness once again!

The soup I created here is based on the veggies that I had on hand, and that I had wanted to use up before market day. So if you want a cream of broccoli soup, just eliminate the carrots, and add a bit more broccoli. Simple.

Vegan Cream Of Broccoli Carrot Soup

1 - 2 large heads of broccoli with full stems, chopped

1 onion chopped

4 - 5 carrots chopped

3 stalks celery chopped

handful fresh parsley chopped

1/2 tsp Penzeys Sunny Paris

1/2 tsp Penzeys Bouquet Garni

1/2 tsp Penzeys Herbs de Provence

2 bay leaves

16 oz spring or filtered water

1 box organic low sodium vegetable broth

1/3 cup hemp seeds

4 TBS golden flax powder fresh ground

1 TB chia seeds

1/2 cup almond milk

3/4 cup raw cashews drained

4 TBS Nutritional Yeast

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Soak cashews in spring water for an hour. Clean and chop your vegetables. In a stock pot add your mirepoix of onions, celery and carrots, as well as broccoli and parsley. Add spices, and slightly saute everything while turning the vegetables with a large spoon before adding the broth and water. Add the liquids, bring to a boil and simmer for an hour or two. Then let the mixture cool down while you gather the ingredients for the blender. If you like chunks in your soup set aside a bowl of the veggies to re-add later. 

Scoop out the rest of the vegetables and cooled soup mixture to place in your blender. (Please be sure they really are cooled down before you place in blender. Depending on the size of your blender you may need to do your blending in stages). Add flax powder, hemp, chia, and almond milk. Blend and pour back into soup mixture. Take more of the soup mixture and place again in the blender. Add in the drained cashews, nutritional yeast, and blend. Add back into soup stock pot and mix together. I love how that looks!

Add back your bowl of vegetable chunks that you previously had set aside at this time. Stir everything together and top with cracked pepper. Warm and serve. A little will go along way. Enjoy with a big salad!

If I had not started to transition from processed foods I would have never experienced the supreme deliciousness of a soup like this one. Change is so very good! "Oh the new foods you will adore!"

Carrot Leek Cashew Coconut Soup

This is a story about carrots. Lots-o-carrots! I had planned on making some type of vegetable soup, as I had a box of low sodium vegetable starter broth. You know just a quickie soup pot to warm up a cold winter's day. Well this turned into a production, but it was so worth it in the end. In gathering the usual mirepoix ingredients (celery, carrots, and onions) I was looking over my current pile of produce. I then spied two huge leeks that needed to be prepared soon. I thought to myself, "Well leeks are a form of onion, so that should work as a substitute for the onions." Okay sounds interesting.

Then once more I looked into the fridge to get the celery and carrots. Oh my, I had an over flow of carrots in my supply. Some fancy organic dark red carrots, and a huge bag of carrots for juicing. Hmmm I have seen Dr. Joel Fuhrman put fresh made carrot juice right into a soup he was making, maybe that is what I should do too, just to use up the orange lovelies. Then I considered what to use to cream up a carrot soup, since I do not do dairy. How about coconut milk? Yes, I have that in cans and boxes. As soon as I thought coconut milk, I thought Thai... and cashews. That's how I came to make this soup. 

I have since looked this veggie soup combination up on the internetzzz, and found that other people had this fantastic idea too! You might assume that I take pix of every meal I make. Actually, I don't always have the time, or even think about it... till afterwards, and then I say, "Oops!"  Well, thank goodness I took photos of this one, because it is a winner! My husband said this carrot leek soup was so delicious, it was like dining at a fancy restaurant. Good call honey!

Carrot Leek Cashew Coconut Soup 

3-4 stalks of celery

2 huge leeks

12 carrots

1 box low sodium organic vegetable broth

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp curry powder 

1 inch fresh ginger minced or micro-planed

3/4 box coconut milk

1/2 cup cashews - plus garnish amount
4 tbs golden flax powder.

1/2 lemon

After gathering the organic vegetables together, I washed, trimmed, and prepared them to go into my enameled cast iron Lodge Dutch Oven,stew pot, which I love, by the way. I have the Caribbean blue version, and it looks beautiful on the stove even when I am not cooking. Of course you could get all super fancy on us, and buy the Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron French Ovenversion, which is the superstar of enameled pots! Oh! Get on with your bad super chef self! I can't touch that!

Back to preparing leeks, be sure to slice them lengthwise first, and fan out the layers as you run water down inside the veggie. This is to dislodge any sand, or dirt particles, that may have gotten trapped inside. I placed the chopped leeks, chopped celery, and two of the carrots, which happened to be the dark red organic carrots, inside my big soup pot. I held back a few slices as a garnish for the plate, since the red carrots have that cool sunburst design inside. Psychedelic baby!

I then sauteed the veggies without using any oil. You do this because it is much healthier of course! As the water from the veggies steams out, you then you add a bit of spring water to steam them till they saute and wilt. Add your spices to the pot, then stir a few times. Smells good right? Mmmm I know. Now pour in your box of organic low sodium vegetable broth, or your own homemade broth. Bring to a boil, then lower temp to a simmer.

While the covered soup is heating up on the stove at a simmer, go peel 10 carrots. Just zen out with your peeler. Think about Unicorns for awhile. If the carrots are organic, you can just scrub them really well. The Unicorns are dancing in the forest now.

Let's make carrot juice using my  Breville Juice Processor which made a quick cup and a half of carrot juice from those 10 carrots. Mmm looks good! I really want to drink that right now!!! I bet those Unicorns want some too!

Stroll back over to the stove and pour the fresh carrot juice right in your soup! Pretty.

If you do not have a juicer just chop the carrots and place in the soup to cook down till soft. Either way, cover the pot, and let your soup simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then you are going to let it cool way down before placing into a blender. Reserve some of your cooked chunks of carrot, celery and leeks and set aside if you would like some of these chunky bits in your final soup dish. 

Warning! Do not place hot soup in blender. See that soft plastic lid on mine, it got so hot from the soup, that I am getting the shivers thinking about anyone turning the blender on and burning themselves. Noooooo, do not do it. Danger Will Robinson! Please pour the soup you are going to blend into another pot or large bowl first to cool down. I wish I had the awesome  Vitamix 5200s blender for this task! Oh yeah baby! This is the year we are getting one, with all the extras too! I just know it! Anyway, while you are waiting for the soup to cool, you can use this time to place your 1/2 cup of cashews into a Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor, or Black & Decker Coffee Grinder /spice grinder, and make a cashew powder.  I do have a Black and Decker coffee/spice grinder, and that is what I chose to use for the task. This works great for grinding the whole flax seeds into powder too. Speaking of flax, let's make some golden flax powder now as well.

Okay, now take your cooled down soup mixture, and pour to the halfway point in your blender container. It will take a couple of batches to blend smooth all the soup you have made. Patience. Pour in some of the coconut milk, ginger, flax powder, and cashew powder, each time you blend a batch. As you finish each blended carrot leek cashew coconut soup mixture, then pour this back into your big soup pot. If you have an immersion blender Cuisinart Smart Stick you can avoid the extra steps and mix right in your soup pot! Just be sure the stick is fully immersed before you blend! (Thanks for the heads up Tamera!)

Once you have returned all the soup back into your big soup pot, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon into your soup. If you reserved some chunky bits of cooked chopped celery, leek, and carrot, you can add those back in at this time as well. Stir and warm up the creamy goodness. Use your own judgement about how you like the thickness of your soup, whether or not to add any more coconut milk, since there should be some left in the box. Be sure to serve this soup with whole cashews thrown into each bowl. Oh yes, see me toss them in with delight! Seriously the crunch of the cashews goes fantastic with these flavors.

So there it is! One of my best food creations ever! If you have the time to try making this carrot, leek, cashew, coconut soup, you will be so very happy with yourself! It is now completely up to you, if you decide to share it with the Unicorns. Enjoy!

Romanesco Soup... Not Just For Aliens!

To further our quest to try new foods, that crazy Romanesco had to be on the list! Look at that amazing veggie! With all those beautiful bright green swirling fractal shapes Romanesco looks like it came from an alien planet! Lucky for us, you can get it in many markets these days, so be brave and try something way cool!

During my second attempt at making a soup from this broccoli/cauliflower mix of a vegetable, I learned that "keep it simple" really is the best motto. This delicate flavored vegetable soup is just a mix of onions, Romenesco, and vegetable broth. So easy! The finished result is a very silky soup with an added simple complementary garnish of tomato pieces and romanesco. For other uses of Romanesco just steam, or eat it raw, as you would for any cauliflower or broccoli presentation. This fabulous veggie will be an attention getter for sure at your next get together, or event! Get creative!

Romanesco Soup

1 Head of Romanesco

1 - 2 large onions sliced or chopped

1 box (32 oz.) low sodium organic vegetable broth

chopped fresh tomato pieces

salt and pepper to taste

Chop the Romanesco into pieces, and be sure to save some of those cool fractal triangles for your soup garnish. Chop your onions and add them to your pot in a drizzle of olive oil. Lightly brown onion pieces. 

Add Romanesco pieces and stir through. Add veggie broth and simmer covered for 20 minutes or until all is tender. 

Once tender let the vegetables cool for about 10 minutes. 

Then add all of the vegetable mixture to blender and mix till silky smooth. 

Add Himalayan or Celtic salt, and cracked pepper, to taste. 

Pour the soup into a bowl or a cup as needed, adding a sprinkle of tomato pieces and some Romanesco pyramids for presentation. The taste of this soup is very light. The fresh chopped tomato adds a bright complimentary flavor, and the raw Romanesco pieces add a nice crunch. Rich in vitamin C, and K, it looks colorful, and tastes wonderful! Enjoy!

Hurricane Stew with Rancho Gordo Cannellini Beans

As I write this post, the big hurricane named Sandy, is supposed to hit our area of the world. The town we just moved to was out of power for over a week the last time a big storm hit. So in preparation for that possibility, I decided to use some items in the freezer now, just in case the food goes bad from no power in the next day or so. That is why I am calling this hurricane stew! Hey! Maybe it's hurricane soup... I never know what I am making till I create it.  Most of my soups are pretty hearty and look like stews anyway!  One thing is sure, we are going to have to hunker down inside. So let's make some cozy food, and send good thoughts to those in the path of this large storm.

We have two pastured chickens from a local farm in the freezer.  Since I rarely make any meat, I felt this was a good time to defrost one. Everyone online is buzzing about the big storm, so I had a few days warning about the upcoming weather event. Therefore, I was able to plan these next few items one day ahead of the soup making. I decided to slow cook the pastured chicken in the crock-pot to get it ready to add to my soup/stew the next day. Oh Boy, this turned out to be a very big chicken, and it barely fit into my large crock-pot. The local farmer who raised the chicken was a student of Joel Salatin. As a matter of fact, he and his wife spent their honeymoon at Joel's Farm. That is dedication to learning proper farming techniques. Remember if you are going to eat meat, get the most healthy pasture-raised meats available. If you give me that "oh it's so expensive face," I will say to you to just cut back on your meat consumption anyway, and then you can certainly afford to get the good stuff. There is no comparison in taste and nutrient value. Plus there are no weird hormones or GMO's from the grain, like the animals in factory farming are fed, and then get passed onto you in the food chain.
 

Since I wanted some healthy beans in my stew, I decided to open the bag of the Rancho Gordo Heirloom cannellini beans I had in the pantry. These are some gorgeous looking big white beans! Look at that fabulous graphic on the package. Ultra cool! Check out the Rancho Gordo website for all sorts of recipes and tips about their heirloom bean collection. Below I will also post their video instructions for soaking beans. I soaked my beans overnight. They recommend that you add the soaking water as well to your bean dish, instead of dumping it in the sink, because the vitamins are in the water.
Click on 'Read More' below to view entire post.

Peach Gazpacho

My daughter gave me 3 large fresh garden tomatoes today. Sadly, they were from the end of her garden's tomato making efforts. Weather has not been kind to the tomato crop this year. I had been wanting to make a cold gazpacho soup, and thought I had plenty of time 
left in the tomato growing season.
Click on 'Read More' below to view entire post.

Magical Mirepoix Makes Five Soups

This winter I have been making soup every week. Such great aromas fill the house! The magical mirepoix makes it incredibly easy to create a warm, cozy, healthy meal. Soup is a very filling, yet easy on the waistline food. Plus you will get a few days of leftovers, depending on your family size. Leftovers only get better! Day three you might just have enough for a cup of soup, along with a sandwich on sprouted or whole multi-grain bread. Don't forget to include drinking a glass of fresh made veggie juice! You will be a rainbow of goodness and warmth!

Every soup follows a basic beginning. Chop by hand, or with a food processor, the three following ingredients, onions, celery and carrots, which make up the 'mirepoix.' Tradition says you chop more onion than the other two. I now make "oil free soups" I add the mirepoix to a stockpot with a little spring or filtered water to sweat the vegetables (instead of the old way to saute in 2 tbs of olive oil), and then cook the onions till translucent. Since I am not straining the liquid to make a broth, I make my vegetable cuts large, because I want them to be my colorful chunky soup ingredients.

At that point I add spices, and mix them in during the vegetable saute phase. Once the vegetables are sweated, I add a box of organic low sodium vegetable or chicken broth, and 16 - 32oz spring or filtered water. If you have a juicing machine you can also add a couple of juiced carrots to your broth which adds sweetness! After an hour you can mash up a small portion of your cooked vegetables to add back into your broth as well. This gives an overall density to your broth in flavor and texture.

Depending on what I have around that week, I may add any number of other ingredients to set the tone of the soup. Good way to use up veggies before they go bad. Bring all your ingredients to boil, then turn down to slow simmer and cover. I also like to add some super-foods, as in dulse, chia and nutritional yeast. I simmer the soup on low for a few hours, then happily serve up this divine old fashioned comfort food. A soup can be as light or heavy as you like depending on what you add. Sometimes my soups are more like stews since they are thick, hearty, and chock full of ingredients. You can always adjust the amounts of spices and salt to taste. I never add hot pepper spices, or cilantro to any of my recipes, so if you need those tastes in your life, you can add as you like. All ingredients and vegetables are organic even if I don't say it in each of the recipes below.

If you have not tried making home made soups before, this is the season to start! So easy! Have a food processor? You can use that machine to slice and chop your veggies in no time! Make a big pot of soup or stew, and you won't worry about what's for dinner the next day, or two! Freeze a portion to use on a day you don't have time to cook!

If you want to make your own home made soup base broth, just fill a stock pot with whatever vegetables you have around the kitchen, but not potatoes. For example add the mirepoix veggies, plus some spinach, leeks, and parsnips. You can also add fresh made carrot juice from your juicing machine. Cover the height of the veggies in the pot with the same amount of water, and simmer for an hour covered till soft. Then blend your ingredients together. You can freeze this liquid in different size containers, and your broth will be ready to add to any number of dishes you create.

The soups below are just a few possible variations based on the mirepoix beginnings:

Soup One: Zucchini, Black Bean and Vegetable Soup 

This soup reminds me of a very light version of my vegetarian chili recipe. We love
the richness of taste in this soup, coming from the Indian spices used in this recipe. Flavorful without being hot! I am not a fan of having my tongue burning, and then being unable to taste my food. So the fantastic flavors of garam masala, cumin and turmeric really do the trick for us! You can add more of each spice besides what is listed here! Experiment, because soup making is a fun collage of flavors.

1 - 2  large onions chopped
3 carrots chopped
4 celery stalks chopped
2 zucchini sliced
1 TBS garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tbs basil
1 tbs oregano
1 bay leaf
1 box low sodium organic vegetable broth
32 oz spring or filtered water
1 bottle of strained tomatoes (or 1 can chopped or peeled tomatoes)
1 can drained and washed organic black beans
2 tbs soaked chia
2 tbs dulse flakes
2 tbs flax powder
1/2 cup frozen organic non-GMO corn
1/2 tbs pink Himalayan salt
black pepper to taste

Soup Two: Wild Rice and Chia Vegetable Soup

This very light and satisfying soup is based mostly on the mirepoix flavors. The chia adds omega-3, protein, fiber, calcium, magnesium and iron. Plus chia seeds are great for diabetics! The organic wild rice adds a nice familiar texture, but a much healthier version than plain empty white rice. You could add chopped pasture raised chicken to this soup if you eat meat.

1 - 2 large onions chopped
4 stalks of celery
4 carrots chopped
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1 tbs parsley

1 tbs basil

1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt

black pepper to taste

1 box organic low sodium vegetable or chicken broth

32 oz spring or filtered water

4 tbs soaked chia

1/2 cup wild organic rice just tossed into soup

2 tbs dulse flakes

Optional for meat eaters: 1 cooked (no antibiotic, no hormone, free range non GMO fed) chicken cutlet chopped (add small amount of liquid to cooking chicken to capture pan drippings and add the broth)

Soup Three: Lentil, Leek, and Barley Soup

This soup was the result of just purchasing a food processor, and wanting to test out the slicing blade on some vegetables I had that day! Wow! It made short order of chopping those vegetables. I used all organic vegetables and products to create this delicious thick soup. I soaked 1/2 cup lentils and 1/2 cup pearled barley for about 2 hours before I added them to the soup. I drained off the water before adding to the soup stock. I would recommend using hulled barley instead, but I still had some pearled barley that I bought before I knew the difference, and just wanted to use it up. I also now only buy tomato products that are in glass containers, because the acid of tomatoes reacts with metals. Use method at the top of this post to prepare this soup.

4 carrots chopped

3 celery stalks chopped

1-2 large onions chopped

1 zucchini sliced

3 leeks chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 tsp dried basil

1 bay leaf

1 tsp oregano

1 box organic low sodium vegetable broth
32 oz spring or filtered water

1 bottle of strained tomatoes (or 1 can 14.5 ounce of crushed tomatoes)

1/2 cup lentils

1/2 cup barley

2 Tbs soaked chia seeds

2 heaping tbs nutritional yeast

1 Tbs dulse flakes

2 Tbs flax powder

1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt

some ground black pepper to taste.

Soup Four: Quinoa Vegetable Soup

I was curious about adding one of my new favorite foods "quinoa" to soup instead of rice. I rinsed the quinoa and then brought it to a boil, and simmered covered for 10-15 minutes. I usually buy my quinoa in the bulk section, and have to remember that it takes 1/2 cup of quinoa to 1 cup water to cook. I now had a cup of cooked quinoa. You can tell its done when you see the little rings from the seeds popped open. Follow the basic mirepoix soup method at top of this post using the following ingredients.

1 large onion chopped

4 celery stalks chopped

4 carrots chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1 box organic low sodium vegetable broth

32 oz spring or filtered water

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 cup organic non-GMO frozen corn

2 tbs soaked chia seeds

2 tbs nutritional yeast

2 tbs dulse flakes

1/2 cup chopped spinach (added last hour)

Soup Five: Chicken Noodle Soup

Hubby had a slight cold, and I thought a little old fashioned chicken noodle soup would be good for his soul. I was excited that for the first time I did not catch his cold at all! My immunities have really improved this year from my new plant strong nutrient dense food plan. Even when we both were sick over the holidays it only lasted 2 weeks, with the residual coughing. In the past it would morph into a horrible bronchitis that would last for month's and would eventually need antibiotics. This year I have been strong! Yea! Another way good nutrition free of toxins helps let your body do it's healing work! Each month I am stronger!

I still have not found a good tasting egg noodle that is gluten free, so I used the light and fluffy brand egg noodles I still had in the pantry for this soup recipe. (Manischewitz has the best of the gluten free noodles. You may have to stock up when you see them.) When cooking the chicken I added some water to the pan after it was cooked to capture the chicken broth, and added that to the soup too. On the second day I added two juiced carrots to my soup leftovers, which created a sweeter tasting broth. Excellent flavor! on the third day we just had a cup of soup left for each of us. We added a sandwich made of wild Alaska salmon. Topped with fresh avocado tomato slices on Ezekiel brand toasted sprouted seed bread. Oh yum! For the chicken noodle soup, just follow the basic mirepoix soup instructions at the top of the page and add together the following ingredients.

1 large onion chopped
4 stalks of celery chopped
4 carrots chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbs basil
1 box of organic low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
32 oz spring or filtered water
2 tbs soaked chia seeds
2 tbs dulse flakes
2 tbs flax powder
2 tbs nutritional yeast
sprinkle of cracked  black pepper flakes
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 (free range, no antibiotic, no hormone) chicken cutlet cooked and chopped 

(add small amount of liquid to the cooking chicken to capture pan drippings and add to the soup broth)

2-3  hand-fulls of egg noodles added during last hour of cooking soup
Optional: 2 carrots juiced fresh and then added to soup

Extra Soup Making Info:
I hope you have learned how easy it is to make a large variety of soups using the mirepoix method. Here is a very detailed video that is part of a series on soup making. During the video 'The Soup Doctor' mentions not using an aluminum pot to cook in as it leaches fluoride into the food and cause Alzheimer's. Since I also know fluoride is bad for the thyroid, in the future I will use my stainless steel stockpot or enamel clad cast iron dutch oven only. This is the second time this week I have read this info about aluminum based pans being bad. The pot I usually use is a Calphalon anodized aluminum pot, which is supposed to protect you from the food effects on the aluminum. You can research this subject for yourself, as there are many varied opinions. Mostly it seems that it is best not to cook tomato based things and soups in the aluminum pots.   

UPDATE: I have now changed all my cookware to stainless steel and enamel covered stock pots! Everything works fantastic! No more silicone or toxic surfaces. Glass containers are used for leftovers. Bye Bye toxic plastic and leeching chemicals too! Also we are completely plantbased now as well. YAY!

Below is a nice video series on kitchen basics, and soup making. Just omit the olive oil and use the water saute method. Follow links to other episodes. Stay comfy! 

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