Written by Angela Warburton, TCM
A detox friendly soup to start your day and start off a healthy new year.
Breakfast isn’t usually known for it’s soups…at least not in North America. We’re used to our sweeter, colder and carb heavy on the go type breakfasts. But in many cultures, particularly throughout Asia, soup is a common and desirable way to start the day. The warmth helps kick start the digestive system after fasting over night and the veggie rich mix puts you on the right tract to getting your 8-12 servings per day. Packed with fibre and adequate protein and nutrients, it also helps to stabilize blood sugar for a great start to the day. And by cooking up a big pot at the beginning of the week, you don’t need to rush to get fed properly, you can just reheat a bowl easily each morning or reach for it when you need a quick and nutritious snack. Yum!
Start with a good stock (I like to use a bone broth because it’s rich in minerals rich like calcium but you can use chicken, beef or vegetable stock instead)
Bone Broth: Essentially, all you need to do to make stock is simmer some bones in water with some acid (I use apple cider vinegar – 1tsp), salt and pepper for many, many hours. I also put in a clove or two of garlic, some celery and a carrot or two to add a bit more flavor. You can use beef, chicken, lamb, fish or any other bones you have around. Once the bones begin to soften you take it off the heat, skim the excess fat from the top and refrigerate until ready to use as a base for any soup)
2 tbsp camilina oil (can also use organic ghee or olive oil)
1 medium onion – diced into small-medium pieces
1 clove garlic – cut into small pieces
Fresh ginger – approximately a 2 inch piece minced
2 stalks organic celery – chopped
2 medium sized carrots – cut into small- medium sized pieces (or the size you like best)
1 medium sized sweet potato or yam – Cut into 1” cubes
1 tbsp dried seaweed (any type will work but it depends on your taste – I use dried wakame)
3 stalks of organic chard or a bunch spinach -chard cut into medium sized pieces
1 can organic beans (black eyed peas, black beans, chickpeas or cubed organic non-GMO firm tofu) – I use Eden organics because it’s BPA (bisphenol-A) free. Rinse beans or cube tofu
6 cups of stock (bone broth, chicken, beef or vegetable stock)
Salt and pepper to taste (note, seaweed adds a natural salty taste so best to wait until the end of cooking to add any additional salt
1/4 tsp celery seed
pinch of savory, marjoram
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp turmeric
Spices options: spice it up! Ginger, celery seed, savoury, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, bay leaf, salt pepper, turmeric (really detoxes and moves things), paprika (it adds a nice warm smoky flavour…etc.. Just play around and use the spices that you’re drawn to. It should be fun!
Directions:
Heat oil in pan
Add the onions, garlic and ginger and sautee over low heat until soft
Add carrots, and celery and spices. Sautee until slightly soft
Add broth and bring to boil. Add the yam and seaweed. Reduce to simmer.
Let simmer for 20 minutes then add the beans or tofu. Simmer for an additional 40 minutes adding the chard in at the very end.
You can cook a big pot on the weekend and then just heat it up one bowl at a time for breakfast during the week.