Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Healing Soup (Healthy Vegetable Soup)

Healing Soup is based on the fact that the combination of carrots, celery, parsley and spinach is very healing and promotes vitality. It has all the nutrients one needs and is easily digestible. The creaminess of the dal and the grated veggies make for a soft and soothing soup. Although it will not be as nutritious, this soup is equally good without the dal/barley as well.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Barley
1 cup yellow Mung dal
4 sprigs fresh Thyme
1 sprig Sage
2 sprigs Marjoram
1 small stalk Celery, finely chopped
4 medium Carrots, grated
1 large bunch Parsley, chopped
1 bunch Spinach, chopped
1 large Potato, grated
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 small bunch Garlic Chives or green onions
2 coin sized slices of Ginger, minced
2 medium Zucchini, grated
1 cup Corn kernels, fresh/frozen
1 tsp Turmeric
1 clove Garlic, crushed
Sea Salt to taste
1 tsp Sambar Powder
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Freshly ground Black Pepper
Lime/Lemon wedges to serve (optional)

Method:

Sort the dal and barley for any debris, wash and cook in water to cover until the dal is very soft and creamy; set aside. To speed up the cooking process, save time and conserve energy, the dal and barley can be pressure-cooked.

Wash all the veggies thoroughly.

Trim and peel the veggies as necessary and save all the clean trimmings and peels in a large pot to make broth (but not the dry skins of onions as they will make the broth a bit bitter). If the trimmings are not enough, a couple of whole veggies like carrots and/or a potato can be cut up and added to the stock pot to enrich the broth.

Strip the parsley leaves and save them for soup; add the stems to the broth pot.

Add the garlic clove, turmeric, 1 tsp salt, and 2 quarts of water to the broth pot and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let to cool a little. Pour the broth through a fine strainer and discard the solids; set aside the broth until needed.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot and cook the onions gently with a pinch each of salt and turmeric until soft and slightly browned.

Stir in the herb sprigs and the ginger; cook for a minute or until herbs wilt.

Add the broth to the onions in the soup pot and bring to a boil.

Stir in the potato and celery, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Increase heat a little, add the rest of the vegetables, sambar powder and bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer again for about 30 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

Fish out the herb stems and discard.

Stir in the dal/barley mixture and bring to a boil; add a little broth/hot water if the soup is too thick.

Mix in the spinach, garlic chives and parsley and cook until the veggies wilt; turn off the heat and cover.

Allow the soup to rest for a few minutes.

Check the soup for seasonings and add a little more salt and freshly ground pepper if needed.

Serve hot; pass the lime/lemon wedges to squeeze as desired.

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