What could be more comforting than a big bowl of warming, energizing and immune-boosting soup full of antioxidants? I make this soup whenever I feel like my kids could use an extra dose of smiles and kindness. A typical peasant soup made with the most elemental vegetables, onions, carrots, potatoes and zucchini, a cup or two of satiating beans and a further dash of deliciousness and antioxidants in the form of cilantro, ginger and garlic, this soup is like the warmth of the sun on a icy-cold day. It has great potential to increase your bounce-back-ability quotient.
It’s easy to make and so tasty! Honestly, what is the point in eating healthy foods if they do nothing for your taste buds? The recipe is roughly adapted from a soup recipe in the phenomenal cookbook The Complete Superfoods Cookbook by Michael Van Straten, but as always it has taken a few twists and turns in the zone of my kitchen. I get requests for the recipe very often, so without further delay, and with immense gratitude to Mr. Van Straten, here is the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 large, actually make it humungous onion
- 3-4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- A small piece of ginger
- 1 or 2 potatoes grated with skin
- 2 to 3 carrots peeled and grated
- 2 to 3 zucchini with the ends trimmed and grated
- 5 to 6 cups of vegetable stock
- 3 cups of cooked chickpeas or cannellini or kidney beans
- A bunch of the greenest cilantro you can find
Here is How you Make it
In a large pan, heat the oil. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and sweat them for about 10 minutes in gentle heat.
Add the grated vegetables and continue to cook for five to six minutes. You will have to stand there and stir the vegetables around to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan, even if you are tempted to leave to check your new notifications or friend requests on Facebook. Stand there, be present and watch the fresh vegetables and spices do their magical mingling. While you are at it, enjoy the aroma.
Pour in the stock, mix well and let the soup simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. At this point, with the riot of colors and lovely aromas, it looks like a gala is in full swing in the pan. Turn off the heat and add the washed cilantro bunch (stems and all) into this mix. I don’t worry about chopping the cilantro, but if you have the energy and the inclination to do the chopping, go for it. The cilantro adds a nice color and taste punch to the soup, but it isn’t mandatory. So if you don’t like cilantro, feel free to skip it. You can add a bunch of baby spinach instead.
Let the vegetable and broth mix cool. Transfer the mix to a blender and whizz till it is smooth. Return the blended mix to the pan.
Add the cooked beans into the blended mix and gently heat for five more minutes.
Wasn’t that easy? Bless the soup. Serve and eat with reverence and gratitude.
