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Pumpkin Coconut Soup

Note: this piece first appeared as the November 2008 ClarkWellness.net Recipe of the Month.

Serves 4 to 6

This recipe, based on the traditional Thai pumpkin-coconut soup keg bouad mak fak kham, is absolutely delicious but deceptively simple to make. Thai red curry paste is available in the Asian section of health food stores or in Asian markets. Experiment to find the brand you like best.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
sea salt to taste
4 cups pumpkin purée, preferably fresh
1 14-ounce can pure coconut milk
Thai red curry paste to taste
vegetable stock or water as needed
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

Heat the oil in a medium soup pot. Add shallots and sea salt and sauté until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, and stock or water to thin the soup as needed. If desired, use an immersion or countertop blender to blend the soup. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 to 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Warming Ginger-Aduki Soup

Note: this piece first appeared as the March 2008 ClarkWellness.net Recipe of the Month.

Serves 4

This warming, soothing soup includes aduki beans (also called adzuki, adzuki, azuki, or asuki beans), which are small reddish beans. Kombu, a sea vegetable, is also included to remineralize the soaked beans and improve digestion. Both these ingredients are available in health food stores and Asian markets.

1 cup dry aduki beans
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups chopped butternut squash
2 teaspoons grated ginger
generous pinch sea salt
1 2-inch piece kombu
6 cups chicken, fish, or vegetable stock

Rinse the beans and soak, overnight, in enough water to cover generously. Drain, rinse, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, squash, ginger, and sea salt and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved beans, kombu, and stock. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer until the beans are very tender, 40 to 60 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

You may serve the soup as is, or you may purée part or all of the soup prior to serving.

Quote of the Month

“Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it.”

–Judith Martin

Super Simple Miso Soup

Note: this piece first appeared as the October 2007 ClarkWellness.net Recipe of the Month.

Serves 2

This preparation method for miso soup is not traditional, but it’s an easy, quick way to enjoy this healthful and delicious dish. Try making Super Simple Miso Soup for breakfast, especially in cooler weather! You can substitute other vegetables and use whichever variety of miso you prefer. Nori and dulse granules (made from the sea vegetables nori and dulse) are available in the macrobiotic section of health food stores. Miso paste is also available in health food stores (in the refrigerated section).

1 carrot, grated
1 3-inch piece of daikon radish, grated
1 cup thinly sliced collard greens
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons nori or dulse granules
3 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon sliced scallions
1 tablespoon brown rice or mellow white miso

Place carrots, daikon, collards, garlic, ginger, and sea vegetable granules in a large bowl or medium soup pot. Pour the boiling water over the vegetables and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Stir in the scallions and miso and serve immediately.

Simple Lentil-Garlic Soup

Note: this piece first appeared as the February 2007 ClarkWellness.net Recipe of the Month.

Serves 1 to 2

This delicious, simple soup is quick to prepare. It’s perfect for a winter weeknight meal!

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 cup green lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 cups water or stock
pinch ground white pepper
1 bay leaf
sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat oil in a small pot over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté briefly, then add shallots, carrot, and celery. Cook until just beginning to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add rinsed lentils, water or stock, white pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove bay leaf and season with sea salt to taste. Ladle soup into serving bowl and sprinkle with parsley, if using.

Recipe of the Month: Baby Spinach–Carrot Soup

Note: this piece first appeared in the June 2006 issue of Clark Wellness ForkBytes.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
water
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 cups washed baby spinach leaves

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook briefly. Add the carrots and sauté with the onion until vegetables are slightly browned.

Add the salt and pepper, along with enough water to cover the vegetables (step back to avoid splattering oil), and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer 25 minutes or until very tender.

Remove the soup from the heat and cool briefly. Place soup in a blender and purée until completely smooth. Return soup to the pot and stir in the dill and spinach until the spinach is slightly wilted. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately.

Creamy Parsnip Soup with Polka Dots

Note: this piece first appeared in the November 2005 issue of Clark Wellness ForkBytes.

This pretty soup is fun and perfect for fall. You can use carrots in place of some of the parsnips if you’d like. Use organic frozen green peas if you can’t find fresh.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Makes 4 to 6 servings

4 cups water
6 parsnips, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup green peas
sea salt to taste

Combine the water, parsnips, onion, and nutmeg in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat, and simmer on medium heat until the parsnips are soft (about 20 minutes).

Cool briefly, then purée the soup in a blender (in batches if necessary) until very creamy and return to pot.

Add the green peas and season with salt. Simmer another 5 minutes or until heated through. Serve and enjoy!

Food Focus: Soothing Soups and Stews

Autumn is harvest time, and the wonderful root vegetables and squashes available now in the markets are perfect for blending into beautiful and tasty soups. Soups are a fabulous choice in the fall. They are warming and comforting, and when you allow the autumn harvest veggies to play starring roles in your creations, they’re very nutritious, too! Soups are also highly portable in insulated thermos-type containers, so they’re perfect for school and office lunches. If you prefer not to carry an insulated container, no problem; most soups reheat beautifully.

In terms of macrobiotics, slowly simmered vegetable-based soups are considered moderately yang. This means they are gently contractive, helping you to balance the cool (yin) weather by inviting warmth and strength into your body. This effect is enhanced by warming seasonings, such as ginger, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

Try our recipes for some delicious soup and stew choices, and enjoy!

Step-By-Step: Aduki-Squash Stew

For written instructions, see the original post: Aduki-Squash Stew

Start with 3/4 cup aduki beans (also called adzuki beans, red dragon beans, or red wonder beans). You can find these dried in natural food stores. Spread the beans on a plate and pick out any stones or other foreign material.

aduki_beans

Rinse the beans in a strainer or colander.

rinsebeans

Place beans in a bowl and cover with at least 2 inches of water. Soak overnight.

soakbeans1

Pour the soaked beans into a strainer or colander and rinse again. Set aside.

pourrinsebeans

Next you’ll need some kombu. Kombu is a sea vegetable that you will find dried in the macrobiotic/Asian section of natural foods stores. It’s very helpful in preventing problems digesting the beans (as are all those extra rinses we did earlier). You need about a 3-inch piece of kombu. Trim the long strip with kitchen scissors. I like to rinse off my kombu before adding it to the pot.

kombucutrinse

Place the kombu in a medium-sized soup pot and add 2–3 cups water. Add soaked, rinsed beans. Bring to a boil and skim off foam if necessary. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25-30 minutes.

kombubeansboil

Meanwhile, prepare your winter squash (you can use any winter squash; I chose butternut). Peel the squash, then cut it into sections. Remove seeds with a spoon. Chop squash into bite-sized pieces.

squashprep

After your beans and kombu have simmered 25–30 minutes, add your squash pieces to the pot and cook another 15–20 minutes or until squash and beans are just tender.

squashcook

At this point, if your kombu hasn’t disintegrated into the stew, you can remove it, chop it, and add it back to the pot. This step is optional, but the kombu adds a lot of extra nutrition to the dish and isn’t really noticeable, so it’s a great way to sneak in extra veggies!

kombuchop

Stir in a handful of chopped greens, such as kale, arugula, or spinach, if desired. Add 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and sea salt to taste.

addgreens

Garnish with more chopped greens and serve. Yum!

aduki-squash_stew

Gazpacho

Note: this piece first appeared as the August 2005 ClarkWellness.net recipe of the month.

This smooth, flavorful, fresh soup is perfect for a light meal on a hot night. Tomatoes and cucumbers have a high water content, so gazpacho is cooling and soothing in August weather. Be sure to include your favorite toppings for garnishes—they’ll add extra crunch and interest to the dish. The olive oil is optional; add it when you want a richer, slightly heavier soup. If you’d like an extra kick, hot sauce can be added to the whole recipe, or you can sprinkle it onto individual servings.

Serves 4 to 6

4 ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup tomato juice
juice of 1 lemon
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
sea salt and black pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste (optional)
extra chopped tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and onion for garnish
hot sauce for garnish (optional)

Combine tomatoes, cucumber, green and red peppers, onion, garlic, and basil in a food processor or blender. Process until desired consistency is reached.

Add tomato juice, lemon juice, and olive oil (if using). Stir or blend to combine. Season with salt and pepper; add hot sauce, if desired.

Chill the soup before serving. When ready to serve, ladle the gazpacho into serving bowls and top with extra chopped vegetables and a few drops of hot sauce, if desired.

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