Lighten up with Green Curry Soup

Martha — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:53:22 +0000

According to Ayurveda, Spring (kapha season) is the time to start incorporating more fresh greens and raw vegetables into our daily meal plans. But if your digestive fire (agni) is low, you’re a vata type, or have had increased stress…….you may have difficulty digesting and assimilating these types of foods. Raw foods do pack a powerhouse of enzymes and nutrients, but they also require a good strong digestive fire to break them down.

So how can you increase your greens and aide your digestion at the same time? This recipe fits the bill! Loaded with lots of digestive spices, and made into a soup, the vegetables are easy to digest because the blender has already broken them down into an easy to digest form, but also retains the nutrients.

And, it tastes delicious……isn’t that why we love to eat? We love to stimulate our senses and taste buds!

Green Curry Soup

Servings: Two
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups filtered or spring water

1 cup tightly packed chopped spinach

1 cup chopped broccoli stalks

1/2 cup chopped leeks

1 avocado

1 carrot

4 – 6 soaked sundried tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp miso paste

1 tsp himalayan or celtic sea salt

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp cumin

2 tsp tumeric

1 tbsp tamari or nama shoyu

1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Preparation:
Blend the water, spinach, broccoli and leeks in a blender until smooth. (I recommend a Vita-mix blender, for the best textured soup. Visit: https://secure.vitamix.com/acb/stores/4/?COUPON=06-004346&store=1 ).

Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. You can adjust the spices to taste.

This can be served chilled in the summer or in winter it’s nice to warm it up a little. If you are warming it on the stove, to preserve the enzymes, keep it on the lowest heat, stir constantly and make sure it doesn’t go over body temperature by dipping your finger in. It should be just warm, not steaming hot.

I like to garnish with a dab of organic plain yogurt or flaxseed oil and top with some crunchy kale chips.

Spice up Spring

Martha — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:27:26 +0000

Raw sauces and dressings are a great way to add flavor to your meals and they are packed with vital nutrients and enzymes. Just what we need to rev up our taste buds and meatbolism after a long winter. These are some of my newest favorites.

Creamy Red Pepper Miso Dressing

Quick and simple to prepare. Great over steamed veggies.

Ingredients:

1/2 C cashew pieces

1/4 cup Mellow white miso
1 small/medium Red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T. Toasted sesame oil

Preparation:

Throw it all in the blender or Vitamix and process on high until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!

Spinach Sauce

I find myself adding this to dishes when I want to add some fresh greens to my meal but it’s too unbalancing to vata to add a cold raw salad. Add a spoon or two on a baked potato, on top of a bowl of kitchari, or to balance out a heavy bean burrito.

You can adjust all the ingredients to taste, or get creative and add some of your own favorite greens.

I bunch/bag of baby spinach

1/2 b unch parsley or cilantro

2-3 teaspoons light, mellow miso

1/2 small yellow onion

Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s to taste

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Fresh grated turmeric to taste

Steam the spinach and parsley until just tender, only a minute or two. Place the greens and remaining ingredients in a blender, (best if you have a vita-mix for creating the smoothest texture. You can learn more about vita-mix here http://snipurl.com/uysho ). Blend on high until smooth, adding water if necessary. If using the vita-mix high speed will heat the sauce so that it is warm and ready to serve. In a regular blender you may have to warm the sauce before serving. Heat on low for the shortest amount of time to prevent over cooking and losing the nutrients.

Natural Health Maven» miso

Lighten up with Green Curry Soup

Spice up Spring

Creamy Red Pepper Miso Dressing

Spinach Sauce