WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Soup's On!

"I think careful cooking is love, don't you?  The loveliest thing you can cook for someone close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give." 

                                                                         --Julia Child, American chef, 1912-2004

This is soup season.  Soup is the ultimate comfort food.  I love to make a pot of soup because the smells of vegetables cooking in a yummy broth make my house really feel like a home.  

Soup is easy to make.  You can change a soup recipe based on what you have on hand in your kitchen.  Most soups are better the second or third day; make a big pot for dinner on Sunday and pack up the leftover soup for work or school lunches on Monday and Tuesday.  This is one of my favorite tricks for eating great food during the work week AND saving money!  

Freshly shelled beans, when available, can kick up a soup's flavor.

From the author's visit to New Albany, Indiana's Farmers Market last fall

Soup is delicious and good for you.  Learning how to make a pot of soup is a key concept in our Nutrition Scientists Training Program.  It is a great way to teach your kids how combining different spices and herbs creates great food.  When kids have the skills and confidence to make soup, they will be able to feed themselves for a lifetime.  

Kale

Here is one of my favorite soup recipes (adapted from a recipe in The How Not to Die Cookbook by Michael Greger, MD with Gene Stone).  It is loaded with dietary fiber (beans, sweet potato and kale) and is perfect for anyone with diabetes or prediabetes.  Add some fresh bread with olive oil for dipping and you have a fantastic meal.  

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS:  Our Recipe Collection

KALE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

Ingredients: 

• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1/2–inch dice
• 4 cups chopped fresh organic red kale
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1-1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or 1-15.5 ounce BPA-free can of cannellini beans)
• 1 teaspoon white miso paste
• 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Savory Spice Blend, or to taste

Directions:

Heat 1 cup of the broth in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato, kale, red pepper flakes, bay leaves and the remaining 5 cups of broth and bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat to medium, add beans and cook until vegetables are tender, 20-30 minutes.  Ladle about 1/3 cup of the broth into a small bowl.  Add miso and stir to blend.  Pour the miso mixture into the soup.  Stir in nutritional yeast, parsley, marjoram and Savory Spice Blend.  Remove bay leaves.  Serve hot. 

Savory Spice Blend

Combine all ingredients in a blender to mix well and pulverize the dried herbs and spices: 

• 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 Tablespoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon celery seeds 

Store spice blend in glass jar in a cool, dry place. 

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.