Spring is here and tis the season for cleansing! As holistic nutritionists, one of the things Mo and I focus on in educating clients is eating seasonally and the importance of that for the body!
If you think about it intuitively - as the seasons change, you likely crave different things. For example: when it's cold outside you want a big bowl of chili or a hearty plate of creamy cauliflower rice risotto... Okay, okay, or maybe just good 'ol risotto! 😉 And when the warmer months come around, a shake or smoothie might start sounding really good for Breakfast or perhaps a chilled soup or more vegetables and/or fish than heavy meats.
Now, think about it ancestrally - "back in the day" so to speak, there were no year-round-fully-stocked produce sections or butchers that carried any kind of meat any time of year, like we have access to now. The food people ate was because it was available per the season.
I'm not saying that in the colder months you should never have something that might not have been available to our ancestors. But what I am saying is that you should at least consider it. And know that when something is not in season, you will get very little of the nutritional value out of said thing but when it is in season, that is when it is chalked full of it's nutrients!
Alllll of that to say: I came up with this Spring Vegetable Soup recipe while I was doing a spring detox - nothing major - only 4 days - just with the goal of resetting a bit and cleansing my liver from toxins, etc. I honestly haven't been feeling right hormonally, emotionally, etc. for the last few months and with spring upon us it seemed like a welcome invitation to do some bodily spring cleaning, if you will! And no, before anyone asks - I'm not pregnant! Ha! 😉
This soup comes together very simply and make wonderful leftovers! It is just as good chilled as it is warm! But the best part? It is FULL of anti-inflammatory, cleansing foods! The mung beans in particular are chalked full of fiber and they taste amazing on their own too! My recipe calls for bone broth - which, I've gotta say, if I had to pick one food that I thought would nourish me more than any other food - it would be bone broth. If you're unfamiliar with it's benefits - check out this article from Cognitune.
So while you may not be inclined to a liver detox of sorts, I hope you will make this and incorporate some cleansing foods into your spring!
We hope you enjoy as much as we do!
Place mung beans and kombu into a medium pot with 3 cups filtered water and a good pinch of salt, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer – continue to simmer, uncovered until beans are softened - approx. 25 minutes. Set aside.
While beans are cooking, chop all vegetables.
Warm olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Place all vegetables (this can be done one by one as you finish chopping them…) into the pot with a pinch of salt. Let the vegetables cook down a bit, until softened – approx. 10 minutes + another 5 minutes once all vegetables are added to the pot, if adding as you chop.
Add in remaining seasonings and stir well to combine.
Then add diced tomatoes, broth and water. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Drain mung beans and stir into the soup and let continue to simmer for 5 more minutes.
Turn heat off and add in spinach – stir to combine and wilt spinach.
Serve in big bowls as is or with a crusty piece of good sourdough bread or my 5-minute Grain Free Bread!
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Ingredients
Directions
Place mung beans and kombu into a medium pot with 3 cups filtered water and a good pinch of salt, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer – continue to simmer, uncovered until beans are softened - approx. 25 minutes. Set aside.
While beans are cooking, chop all vegetables.
Warm olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Place all vegetables (this can be done one by one as you finish chopping them…) into the pot with a pinch of salt. Let the vegetables cook down a bit, until softened – approx. 10 minutes + another 5 minutes once all vegetables are added to the pot, if adding as you chop.
Add in remaining seasonings and stir well to combine.
Then add diced tomatoes, broth and water. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Drain mung beans and stir into the soup and let continue to simmer for 5 more minutes.
Turn heat off and add in spinach – stir to combine and wilt spinach.
Serve in big bowls as is or with a crusty piece of good sourdough bread or my 5-minute Grain Free Bread!
