Pureed Cauliflower Soup with Dill

I got inspired to create this soup after reading the book about the wisdom of French parenting Bringing Up Bebe. Apparently, France has a culinary tradition of pureed vegetable soups which are often served in French daycare centers. My 3-year-old daughter Sophia & 7-month-old son Jacob gobbled it up. Gerritt chocked down exactly one spoon while crying & gagging. However, I will not give up (children often need to try a new item on average of 7-8 times prior to developing a taste for it), so more pureed soups are coming on the menu soon! :-)

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter, divided
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 32-oz container low-sodium organic chicken broth or stock
8-10 oz of organic half-and-half
1 large fennel heart, diced
4-5 medium Yukon gold potatoes, diced
2-3 Tbsp of fresh dill, chopped
Sea salt & black pepper to taste
A dash of ground turmeric (for beautiful golden color)

In a large soup pot, melt 2-3 Tbsp of butter. Add onion, carrots & celery & saute about 5-10" until vegetables are soft.
Add cauliflower, fennel heart & potatoes. Cover vegetables with chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer & cook for about 30".
Add salt, pepper, turmeric, butter & half-and-half. Simmer for additional 10-15".
Puree the soup using the stick immersion blender. Serve immediately. Sprinkle each bowl of soup with fresh dill prior to serving.

17 Bean & Barley Mix Kale Soup

I am always on a look out for inexpensive, nutrition-packed & quick meals. Between working almost full time & taking care of 2 little ones I don't have time for elaborate recipes. This recipe was inspired by the 17 Bean & Barley Soup Mix I picked up at Trader Joe's. This wonderful dry mix contains lima beans, blackeye beans, dark red kidney beans, garbanzo beans, green lentils, green split peas & pearl barley among the others. Just 1/4 cup of the mix contains 20% of iron RDA & whooping 13 grams of protein!

1-lb package of Trader Joe's 17 Bean & Barley Soup mix
Two 32 oz. containers of TJ's vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 can of TJ's canned tomatoes (I used Di Napoli Classico Traditional Favorites Tomato & Basil tomato sauce from Costco)
Salt & pepper, to taste
One 10 oz. package of frozen fully cooked Shelton's Turkey Meat Balls
2-3 cups of fresh kale, torn into bite-size pieces

Follow the directions on the soup mix package. Add Shelton's turkey meat balls about 15 minutes & kale about 5 minutes prior to completion of soup's cooking. Yum!

Miso Soup with Tofu & Vegetables

This is one of my favorite comfort food soup recipes. It is light, but nutritious & especially beneficial when recovering from any type of a viral infection.

Ingredients:
5-inch piece of wakame (type of seaweed, may use dulse or arame instead)
6 cups of water
1 medium potato, peeled & diced
1 large carrot, chopped
5-6 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
A handful of fresh enoki mushrooms, whole
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil for sauteing the mushrooms
4 tablespoons light or mellow unpasteurized miso paste (I use Westbrae Natural's Organic Mellow Brown Rice Miso Soybean Paste)
1/4-1/2-lb firm tofu, cut in cubes
2-3 cups of fresh baby spinach (may use other chopped greens such as watercress, kale, collards, or bok choy)
2-3 cloves of crushed garlic
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Place wakame in a bowl of cold water & soak for 5 minutes. Put water, potato, & carrot in a 3-quart pot; bring to boil. Remove wakame from water & chop into small pieces, removing the spine. Add chopped wakame to soup. Lower heat, cover pot & let soup simmer for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. In the meantime, sautee the shiitake mushrooms in olive oil & add to the soup (I use my cast iron skillet for this). Near the end of cooking time, add chopped greens, garlic, tofu cubes, enoki mushrooms & let simmer for 2-3 minutes more. Add the miso paste in the very end (it's most beneficial when unpasteurized & doesn't require boiling). Garnish each bowl with scallions.

Side notes:
Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt & fungus kojikin for several months. It is high in protein & rich in vitamins (especially vitamin B) & minerals. The taste, aroma, texture & appearance of miso vary by region & season. The most common flavor categories of miso are Shiromiso (white miso), Akamiso (red miso), Awasemiso (mixed miso) & Hatchomiso. A common Japanese breakfast is built around rice & miso soup, with the addition of leftover fish, chicken or other meat from dinner the night before.

Enoki mushrooms have a mild flavor & crunchy texture. Traditionally, they are lightly cooked, but can be eaten raw. They contain a powerful anti-cancer polysaccharide called flammulin. Enoki also stimulate the immune system & have antiviral & antibacterial properties.

Cooking in cast iron skillet will add necessary iron to your diet. When food is heated in cast iron (especially foods high in moisture & acidity like tomatoes), trace amounts of iron leach out of the cookware & into the food.

Lan Lan's Chicken Soup

This recipe was inspired by our friend Lan Lan. She wanted to bring us some food during the first few weeks following Gerritt's birth, however, she "couldn't cook." So this soup is Lan Lan's version of preparing a meal with minimal effort & skill involved. I revised this Asian classic by adding a few more ingredients, but the idea is the same. This soup is delicious, aromatic & qi-nourishing (read more about supporting qi here).

Ingredients:
1 whole organic chicken
4-inch fresh ginger root, sliced
5-6 medium cloves of garlic, sliced (or less/more depending on your taste preference)
4-5 dried dates
4-5 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (can use dry shiitakes as well, soak in water prior to adding to soup)
3-4 dry cardamom pods
1 oz or more of dry black fungus (soak in water prior to adding to soup & cut in bite-size pieces or cut in strips)
Water, enough to cover the chicken
Salt to taste

Clean the chicken under cold running water & cut off any excess fat. Place the whole chicken into 5.5-quart pot, cover with filtered water. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring the pot to a boiling point, then turn to simmer. Cook the chicken for up to 2 hours, or until meat is tender & falls of the bones easily.

Remove the sliced ginger & cardamom pods.

Serve with brown rice & kim chi (or other Korean-style pickled vegetables).

Side notes:
- All of the above ingredients may be bought at a specialty Asian grocery store(like Uwajimaya).
- Black fungus, while almost tasteless, is rich in iron & has a crunchy texture.
- Cardamom pods are often used in African, Indian & Middle Eastern cooking. They have a unique smoky flavor.

Thanks, Lan Lan!

Lamb Shank & Fennel Heart Soup

This is one of our favorite recipes to prepare when it is dark, cold & raining outside. This soup is as flavorful as it is colorful. It contains such blood-nourishing foods as dark leafy greens & qi-nourishing foods as carrots, turnips, potatoes, & shiitake mushrooms (read more about Chinese medicine & its uses of food in this post). It is time-consuming to prepare, however, one doesn't have to be present for most of the cooking.

Ingredients:
3-4 Tbsp of extra virgin coconut oil
3 lamb shanks
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
3-4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 large fennel heart, cubed
1 medium turnip, cubed
2-3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
4-5 medium shiitake mushrooms, sliced
15 oz. of tomato-based sauce of your choice (tomato basil marinara, spaghetti, roasted garlic or the like)
6-7 cups of greens (mustard, turnip, spinach, bok choi, collards, beet & the like), torn in bite-size pieces (I really like Trader Joe's Southern Greens Blend)
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Part 1:
Brown the lamb shanks in oil in a 5.5-quart soup pot. Add enough filtered water to leave room for vegetables later on. Bring water to a boiling point, then turn the heat to low. Simmer the lamb shanks for 5-6 hours until meat is tender & falls off the bones. Cool the broth to room temperature, then put the pot in the refrigerator. When the broth is cold enough for the lamb fat to float on top, collect the fat & throw it away.

Part 2:
Move the broth from the refrigerator to the stove. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the greens. Bring the pot to a boiling point, then turn the heat down to low. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the greens last & cook them for about 3 minutes taking care not to overcook.
Serve with rustic bread & butter (or butter substitute).

P. S. This recipe is also wonderful when prepared with ox tails or beef instead of the lamb shanks. Many stores do not carry ox tails, so be prepared to order them in advance. You will probably have more buying success at stores like PCC Natural Markets & Whole Foods, or your local independent butcher.