Soup's On: Boosting The Benefits of Your Soup

Autumn Soup’s ON!

How to Boost the Benefits of your Soup

The air is cooling off and the body is craving warmth. Warming foods are often those most available in the Fall and Winter months: squashes, potatoes, yams, root vegetables and many spices. There’s a reason our bodies crave these foods: they are usually denser, richer in fats and calories, and tend to break down slowly in the digestive tract, releasing a steady flow of energy and raising internal body temperatures.

• Use good quality oil: For most oils, their beneficial compounds are destroyed once they are heated; this turns them rancid and encourages formation of free radicals. The best oils to use for cooking are coconut oil, grapeseed oil, or organic butter.

• Use beneficial herbs and spices: Boosting soups with immune enhancing herbs and spices not only ups the health benefits, but adds delicious flavor and warmth. Best fall herbs and spices: garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, curry, cinnamon, cloves, ginseng and fennel.

• Use homemade veggie stock or bone broth: Homemade is always best: you know where your ingredients came from, when it was made, how it was stored, and made by YOU = made with LOVE.

• Use organic ingredients: Reducing the amounts of pesticides and herbicides in your diet and in your life, is always beneficial. Choose organic and locally grown as much as possible.

• Add greens: An easy way to boost nutrient and antioxidant content: most are rich in vitamins A, C, K, and calcium. Once your soup is done, turn off the stove and add a few handfuls of your favorite greens. They will wilt in no time and can be added to any soup.

• Store properly and try to avoid re-heating: To avoid any leaching of chemicals into your yummy creations, always store soups in glass containers or mason jars. If freezing, make sure to leave at least 1 inch at the top of your jar to avoid cracking. When re-heating your soups, do this at a medium temperature in order to preserve as many nutrients as possible. Boil for only a few minutes; the longer a soup is on boil, the more nutrients are destroyed. OR…try your soup cold, you may be surprised!

Find my Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup here

Celeriac - What Is That Thing?

What you should really know about this “handsome” and delicious root vegetable

Celeriac. Not so terribly appealing, but it’s what’s on the inside that matters, people. If your eyes are not impressed, use your nose and pick that little baby up and smell it. Y-U-M. Though infused with an earthy flavour, their taste is so similar to celery, you would hardly know the difference.  I discovered these gems in late summer at the local farmers market. The farmer snuck one into my grocery bag with a little wink and a nod and told me to trust her.  I peeled it, chopped it up into large chunks, added some other delightful veggies and made a slow cooked soup broth. I let it simmer the day away and around supper time I had a taste….bam! Delish! I can’t even brag about my cooking here because it was so darn simple.  After adding some leeks and potatoes, I made an amazing-nurture-the-soul-body-mind-guts-and-all masterpiece of a soup.

What’s in this lovely root vegetable for you?

• Rich in Vitamins A, C, K, and E, essential oils, and carotene

• It has anti-inflammatory (especially for the intestines), analgesic, and antiseptic properties and is calming (sigh)

• High in minerals: calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc

• Supports cellular health: beneficial in the maintenance of cell formation and metabolism, and helps maintain nervous system health

• It can be helpful in weight-loss: it’s high in potassium which can relieve bloating, is high in fiber to fill you up, and low in calories

What else can I do with it?

• Toss it into curry, chile, stew, stir-fry

• Juice it! Try it with apples, parsley, carrot, fennel…

• Add it to a mash

• Slice and sauté with organic butter

• Grate into a shredded salad/coleslaw

Note: celeriac keeps well in a root cellar and can be enjoyed well into the fall and winter months.

Celeriac: your “root” to better health!