Purely Nourished: Hearty Ginger Lentil Soup

Welcome to another edition of Super Soup Sunday!

I can't believe it's been a full week already but here we are. And what a week it was. I spent it helping an elderly neighbor who had a bad fall and ended up in the hospital. If you ever want a reminder of why it is so important to take care of our health now, at whatever age you are at, spend some time with a senior or for more of a reminder, spend time in a hospital where seniors are the majority. It is not a pretty sight. My friend is home now, and family has arrived from out of town to take over the care. But it has reinforced my resolve to not be dependent on our healthcare system and eat my veggies!

But enough about that. Let's talk food!

This recipe is another from Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat For Health,

the same book I mentioned in the last post. It is also posted in his newsletters and on his member website at www.DrFurhman.com, which if I am loving!

As a member on his site, I have access to a community that have been following this program and some for years and they have so much to share. There are some truly amazing success stories there. The other thing I really am enjoying is the direct access to Dr. Fuhrman for any questions I may have. His staff, including other MDs are readily available for input as well. Between them and all the previous discussions, webinars, podcasts, and newsletters just about every possible issue is covered in full. There are over 1000 recipes in there as well. It's a true wealth of information and well worth the monthly fee. If you are serious about regaining your health, and wanting to transition to a nutrient based way of eating, I would highly recommend it.

Now on to this delicious soup.

This Hearty Ginger Soup has already become a favorite in our house.

It's very nutrient dense, flavorful, and as the name implies- hearty! I think it took me half an hour the other day to finish my bowl for lunch! Ginger plays a major roll, along with lentils, brown rice, sweet potatoes and a hefty amount of swiss chard, to name a few of the key flavors. Instead of vegetable broth, carrot juice is the liquid base, which just ups the nutrients as well as the flavor. I chose to purchase the juice to save some time but if you are game, juice the carrots yourself.

Also it calls for Dr. Fuhrman's Veggie Zest, which is a no salt dried vegetable seasoning. You can use a substitute like Bragg's or Mrs. Dash but do not use the same amounts listed in the recipe. I tried this with Mrs. Dash on another soup and it was so full of pepper it was basically inedible. So I decided to break down and buy Dr. Fuhrman's Vegizest to get it right for future recipes, including this one.

This recipe requires some time for chopping so be prepared time wise. It's definitely worth it as I believe we got 12 big servings out of this recipe and it freezes well.

Ingredients:

8 cups carrot juice

4 cups of water

1 cup dried lentils ( do not soak)

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

2 zucchinis, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 onion, finely diced.

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 bunches swiss chard leaves and stems, chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled, minced and pressed

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
3 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman's Vegi-zest or equivalent to taste. (thanks to reader Angie for catching this.)

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup fresh parsely chopped, for garnish

Place all but the sweet potatoes, swiss chard and parsley in soup pot. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer about 40 minutes.

Add potatoes and simmer another 15 minutes.

Add chard and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Serve topped with chopped parsley.

Carrots and zucchini (I just realized I peeled the zucchini for some reason- not necessary.)

Grated ginger and garlic and cubed sweet potatoes

The recipe calls for Swiss chard but I'm a sucker for the vibrant colors of Rainbow chard. One of these days I'll have to make myself buy Swiss chard.