Tag Archives: soup

{ ginger carrot soup }

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Fall has arrived, bringing with it root vegetables and hearty appetites (at least for me). One of my healthiest, insanely tastiest indulgences this time of year is ginger carrot soup. It’s amazing. Ginger’s pro-digestive, anti-inflammatory enzymes team up with carrot’s sight-enhancing, cancer-preventing vitamins. This means that every cell in your body will be as happy as your taste buds. Perhaps luckiest of all, this delicious dish is inexpensive and easy to make.

I first tried the recipe while reading Eight Weeks to Optimum Health (yup, Andrew Weil) almost ten years ago, and I haven’t given it up since. My boyfriend at the time jokingly referred to Dr. Weil as “Jesus” and said I regarded this book as if it were the Bible. Jokes aside, I do love this soup and have been spreading the good news to anyone who will put a spoonful in their mouth. Most people love it as much as I do.

Over the years, I’ve played around with the recipe a little. Below you’ll find my version, but you can read the original recipe here.

What you need:

  • 5-6 cups soup stock (homemade is best, but bouillon will do)
  • 3-4 cups carrots— chopped
  • 1 medium potato or yam — chopped, I don’t peel them.
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion — diced
  • 2 T ginger — grated or finely chopped
  • 2-5 cloves garlic — optional, to taste (can be a substitute for onion)
  • salt — to taste
  • blender or food processor

What to do:

  • Start your stock heating.
  • Wash and chop carrots and potato. Put them in the stock and bring to boil. Turn down to simmer until tender, 30-45 minutes.
  • While that’s cooking, chop your onion and ginger. If you’re going to add garlic, chop that too. Sautee over medium (or lower) heat just until onions are translucent.
  • When the carrots and potato are soft. add sauteed onions and ginger. Bring to a boil again, then turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Blend (with a blender or food processor) until smooth.
  • Add salt to taste.
  • If you can, garnish with a green herb — basil, rosemary or cilantro are all good (basil pesto is pictured).
  • Enjoy!

Bone Party {the how and why of bone broth}

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teeth party

At a recent social gathering I found myself discussing, of all things, bones. Human bones, animal bones and how they’re linked.

The conversation had meandered quite naturally from the topic of teeth. You see, I’d just returned from a year without fluoridated water. “Good for you!” my cohorts encouraged, probably thinking of how fluoride interferes with proper thyroid function.

“But!” I cried, “When I went to the dentist I had two cavities! I haven’t had even one for over a decade.”

“The fluoride shouldn’t matter,” declared the resident expert. “Cavities are a sign that you’re not getting enough minerals. Your organs are leeching them from your teeth and bones because you’re not ingesting enough.”

“Oh my. How do I get more?”

“Bone broth.”

I gulped, vague recollections of my parents boiling animal carcasses in water floated through my mind. I remembered standing off to the side, hoping I never had to do such a thing. Though I enjoy an occasional steak or burger, meat has never been at the top of my to-eat list, let alone bones. But for my teeth I would do just about anything, so I got the low-down.

bone brothThe recipe is easy: bones, pot, water, vinegar, simmer.

Get some bones from your local butcher, put them in a pot and cover (just barely) with water.

Splash in some vinegar, let sit for a bit. The vinegar is essential. The acid helps leech the minerals from the bones into the water, where they can be absorbed by your body.

Turn on the heat and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for at least 12 hours. Some people leave it going for a day or more. The logic is that the longer it goes, the more minerals come out, though probably after 12+ hours you’ll get diminishing returns. Have errands to run or friends to visit or just don’t want to leave the stove on all night? Two words: crock pot. If you got yours from your mother, like I did, say a silent “Thanks, Mom,” as you’re dumping the ingredients in.

When there’s lots of fat on top of the broth and the bones seem empty, strain with a colander. You can line the colander with cheesecloth if you want your broth to be pure liquid. Use in soups, to cook rice (and other grains), steam veggies or make sauce.

Notes:

The broth you buy at the supermarket is not going to have the same health benefits as homemade. There are no regulations for the ratio of bone to water and most (if not all) are very diluted. They’re also high in sodium, since they pour on the salt to make up for lost flavor.

Josh Bryceson of Turnip Rock CSA told me that you want to start with good, healthy animal bones. A mass-manufactured animal is raised on high-calorie, low-nutrient feed so it gets fat in a hurry.

“If they’re not raised on grass with healthy soil,” warned Josh, “they probably don’t have a whole lot of minerals in their bones to begin with.” You can boil it all you want and you still won’t be doing much for your body.  If you don’t know a local farmer, butcher or fishmonger and you didn’t catch or kill the meat yourself, organic is probably your best bet.

Josh gave me some of Turnip Rock’s very own bone broth to try for myself. It was amazing, slightly salty, completely smooth and wholesome. Great taste is one of the best reasons to make your own broth.

But if, like me, you’re getting into broth for your health, there are a couple more things you might want to know. Part of the function of your bones is the storage and release of minerals. When your body takes minerals from your bones to help the organs function, the bones are doing their job, but we need to replenish the mineral supply.

This means that if you are getting cavities or experiencing bone loss, you can actually reverse these processes. Bone broth is a great starting point, but you don’t have to stop there. Check out this article on how to remineralize teeth naturally and this one on preventing tooth decay.

Mineral deficiencies have many effects on the body and can even affect your mood.  Here’s a great resource for learning more from Townsend Letter: examiner of alternative medicine, “Traditional Bone Broth in Modern Health and Disease.”