Healing Vegetable Soup

There is nothing worse than being sick, except maybe when your spouse is also sick. Ryan and I spent the better half of the nasty, rainy, cold weekend fighting coughs and colds. We certainly took it easy most of the weekend, but did muster the strength to whip up some home remedies to fight our illnesses.

Warm water with lemon and honey is my go-to for coughs and colds for several reasons. First, you need tons of liquids when you are sick to flush out all the crap in your system. Secondly, you need vitamin C to boost your immune system and fight the illness. The honey is just a nice addition to the warm water :)

Anti-inflammatory remedies are also very important for illness, especially for people with autoimmune diseases like Crohn's. I find the best way to accomplish this is with a Healing Vegetable Soup.

I like to add two essential anti-inflammatory ingredients to my soups when I am sick. Both of these should actually be incorporated into a daily diet - turmeric and cayenne.

Turmeric and Cayenne

Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family and usually presents itself in a bright orange-yellow powder form. It is a key ingredient in many Asian dishes and often used for medicinal purposes due to its anti-inflammatory properties. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, which has been linked to fighting off colds and breaking down mucus congestion. I started taking turmeric/curcumin supplements about a month ago as another anti-inflammatory vitamin to help prevent my flare-ups. So far, so good!

Cayenne, a hot red chili pepper, is another wonder-spice that I always include in my daily diet. I actually have this in the morning with warm water and fresh lemon for a daily liver cleanse. Cayenne is also an anti-inflammatory spice that has many, many other health benefits. Check out this list of 17 Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper. This also adds a bit of spice to the soup, which helps break up congestion.

Hopefully, you don't get a cold or cough, but if you do, there are many things you can do besides revert to DayQuil (which for me, never really works).

Ryan and I certainly are on the mend AND enjoying some delicious soup leftovers!!

Healing Vegetable Soup

Yields: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 T butter

½ tsp cayenne

½ tsp turmeric

½ dried Italian herbs

¼ tsp dried tarragon

salt and pepper

6 cups chicken broth (or vegetable for vegetarian version)

1 bay leaf

Parmesan rind

2 parsnips, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)

1 cup frozen peas (or snap peas, chopped)

Brown rice, cooked

Plain Greek yogurt for garnish

Fresh chives for garnish

Put on the brown rice to cook if not prepared already. 

Start by chopping all of the vegetables and aromatics. Warm a large soup pot over medium heat and melt the butter. Saute the shallots, garlic, carrots and celery for about 5-7 minutes or until starting to soften. Stir in the cayenne, turmeric, herbs, tarragon, salt and pepper and cook another 2 minutes until very fragrant. Pour in the chicken broth and add the bay leaf and Parmesan rind, then bring to a slight boil. Stir in parsnips and peas and cook for 15 minutes or until parsnips are cooked through and soft.

Serve with a small scoop of brown rice, yogurt and chives.

New Year, New Eats and Cultured Vegetables

I'm back! It was amazing to take a few weeks off from work, training, cooking and, well life in general. However, now my body is in dire need of cleansing and my normal routine! Then there is the inevitable New Year's resolutions. Not me. This will mark the first year that I WON'T make a New Year's resolution. Not that I don't appreciate the whole "fresh start" mentality, I just don't think it should be limited to one day out of the year. A "fresh start" can happen any day of the year.

My fresh start comes in the form of cleansing, eliminating sugar and digestive enzymes! After all the sweets, heavy food, alcohol and several days of no exercise, my body just gets mad at me, forcing me to return to my healthy ways. I thought I would share some of the healthy habits that I have picked up over the last year, mostly in search of a better lifestyle to deal with Crohn's.

First and foremost - cultured vegetables. This has been the single-most important food I have incorporated into my diet since I was diagnosed several years ago. They are simple to make and a batch lasts about a month. The recipe I am sharing today was created by Rose, my mother (who we all know is a big part of why I am healthy today). She read a book called Body Ecology, that changed her life (and system)!

Before I get to the recipe, here are a few other healthy habits worth trying this New Year.

Raw Brownies

One of the benefits of cultured vegetables is the natural ability to control sweet cravings. Sugar is one of the biggest culprits of my flareups, and also one of my biggest weaknesses, or at least it used to be. After a year of cultured vegetables in my diet, I can honestly say, I do not really crave sweets anymore. However, when I need a little sweet treat, I turn to these Raw Chocolate Brownies (which contain no sugar). The sweetness comes from Medjool dates. I always have a little bag of these brownies in the freezer for a quick and easy sweet satisfaction.

Habit #2 (Lemon-Cayenne cleanse)

I picked up this habit from the Food Babe, a healthy food blogger that is located in NC as well. She starts every morning with hot water, lemon and cayenne. This is a natural liver cleanse that eliminates toxins from the digestive tract. Considering my condition, I jumped on this habit right away and have been pleased with the outcome ever since. Thank you Food Babe!!

If you can't quite stomach cayenne-lemon water, at least try Dandelion Tea (add a few drops of stevia for sweetness). I drink tea with lunch every day instead of water to help break down the food. I only drink water before and after meals, never during. This helps keeps bloating down and eases digestion.

Ways to Eat Cultured Vegetables

Back to cultured vegetables, which is a form of fermented food. Many people ask me why I eat fermented foods and I usually respond with "why not eat the most healing of foods?!?!"

For starters, fermented foods have been around for centuries and now come in several forms: yogurt (plain), kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and soaked grains. For this post, I am focusing on cultured vegetables (sauerkraut or kimchi), which are defined as "cut or shredded vegetables that are left in an airtight sanitary environment for several days or longer at room temperature" according to Body Ecology. This allows the enzymes on the vegetables to proliferate creating a mineral-rich food that aids digestion and eliminates toxins. They help fight yeast and other unhealthy pathogens in your intestines, which is great for controlling sugar cravings (see above). Finally, and most importantly, they are alkaline and very cleansing for the body.

First of all, NEVER heat cultured vegetables. It won't kill you or anything, it will just kill all of the digestive enzymes and good bacteria that you want. Other than just adding them to the side of any meal, here are a few other ways I like to eat them:

• with blue corn chips or other tortilla chips (the veggies act like a salsa)
• similarly, mix with avocado for a guaco-cultured-mole!
• over scrambled or fried eggs
• with cheese and crackers
• use some of the brine as a salad dressing. TONS of great nutrients in the dressing!
• spread on sandwiches in place of a condiment