Nourishing Mind Body and Soul with Soup
Yep it’s the new year and guess what that means – time for souping! It’s WAY too cold outside to even consider juicing. But soups? Nourishing, warming, and cleansing all in one. It’s my favorite approach to clean eating in cold weather.
Plus it’s SO bitter cold out there, this soup just provides another reason to get busy in the kitchen cuz who wants to go outside in this weather. And with the storm on its way, we might not be able to for a day or two!
Nourishment not Punishment
I’m also taking a nice and easy, slow start to the new year. Nourishment is the name of the game in 2018, not resolutions set as some illusive form of punishment, or even intentions that are just a subtler form of the same thing.
To be sure I’m getting clear on what I want and setting goals and getting down to business, but I’m allowing myself to take it in my own stride. I’m going for the slow shift, rather than a New Year’s 180. Because that just doesn’t sound fun. Or sustainable. And frankly it wouldn’t serve me right now.
Pink Soup for You
So I’m just focusing on serving up some soup right now! And this first one I got for you unexpectedly came out pink!!! That’s fun. And it makes the little girl in me oh-so-happy.
No joke, this soup 100% matches my childhood bedroom – all pink and white and green. So my inner child started giggling when I started blending the cauliflower and beet greens up and suddenly everything was coming up rose-colored!
It’s not quite a perfect shade of pink, but we are not getting caught up with perfection anymore. I need to tame that Virgo in me, so here’s a perfectly pleasing pink soup for you.
Cauliflower Soup with a Beet Twist
And it’s nourishing on so many levels – it provides us the cancer protective benefits of cauliflower, the pre-biotics found in leeks, detox properties of parsley, and a massive dose of nutrients from beet greens.
Health Benefits of Beet Greens
As someone who until very recently never ate beets, I most certainly never considered using beet greens. But it turns out these leafy greens are one of the healthiest foods out there – even healthier than the beetroot itself.
Beet greens are a great sources of fiber, and they pack in a whole bunch of antioxidants. They’re high in vitamin B6, magnesium, potassium, manganese, phosphorous, copper, and zinc. They also provide 220% the RDA of vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 16% of calcium, and 15% iron – even more than spinach!
Most intriguing to me is the vitamin K provided by beet greens, which is good for the blood, the bones, and the brain. Vitamin K helps in blood clotting, works with calcium to boost bone strength and ward off osteoporosis (which is also a possible side effect of chemotherapy), and may help fight Alzheimer’s. Boom.
Holistic Nourishment
Between the cauliflower, beet greens, parsley, and leeks, this soup is a detoxifying cancer protective inflammation-fighting system-supporting machine! Bonus – it’s just as pleasing to the eyes and nourishing to our taste buds as it is for our bodies.
Because who wants to stay on the healthy eating track when it doesn’t taste good. I love food that tastes like grass. Said no one ever. (I hope.) And pretty food makes eating all the more fun! Plus this recipe really is easy and makes a whole bunch of soup, so you can serve it up and save the leftovers for later in the week. Cuz, you know, soup for days is the current MO.
Cauliflower Leek Beet Green Pink Soup
A nourishing creamy vegan soup, made pink by super-healthy beet greens!
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 leek
- 1 cup beet greens roughly equivalent to the greens from a bunch of 3 beets
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil I also like to use avocado oil
- 4 cups broth vegetable, chicken works too if you're not vegan/ vegetarian
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 clove garlic
Instructions
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Wash the veggies. Cut the cauliflower heads off, de-stem the parsley, and cut off the beet greens, removing any longer stems, and slice the leeks into half-inch rounds then again in half.
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Steam the cauliflower until tender.
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Add the oil to a large soup pot over medium heat and sauté the garlic for a minute, then add the leeks and sauté until soft and turning slightly golden.
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Add the steamed cauliflower, then add the broth. Add the cumin and sea salt and bring to a low boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or simply remove from the heat for a quicker meal.
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Once removed from the heat, transfer to a high speed blender* or food processor, or use an immersion blender to purée the soup until its blended and creamy. Mine had little green flecks at the end, which is fine.
*If you use a blender, be sure to leave the pour lid open – the heat can cause the blender to burst or crack!
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Serve it up! Transfer leftovers to a container and consume within a week. Or freeze!
Want some more tasty and healthy soup recipes? Check out these recipes:
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