Hello Friend!Sorry I’ve been a little quiet this past week. It’s been a little hectic around here as I’ve been plotting away on how best to serve my lovely community and then catered and attended a sweet meditation and yoga immersion outside of the city this past weekend. It was an amazing experience during which I met some wonderful people and got really quiet within myself. I find these moments of stillness and introspection to be the most powerful tool in moving ahead, in refining your vision for the future, and in thinking about the steps needed in order to make that vision a reality.
I’ve realized that as much as I love consulting and though it will remain an important part of my business, I need to expand into the more tangible reality of guiding people in the day-to-day aspects of healthy living. For me, cooking and food are the best ways to spread my love and passion for life to those around me so in the New Year I’m going to be launching a series of cooking classes and workshops designed to get all of you on your way to cooking and eating like pros ☺
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be coming up with the classes, dates, and times which I will post here and on my Facebook page as soon as they’re decided upon. The first class will likely be in mid-January as I’m lucky enough to be going home for a few weeks at Christmas to see my family and friends. Anyhoo, just wanted to give a little update on the exciting new projects in the works for 2014!
Today I’m going to share with you the recipe for one of the soups I made this weekend for the immersion. It went over quite well and is seriously one of the easiest soups I’ve ever made. One day I was hungry, looked around my kitchen, saw a pile of onions and leeks and said “Yes, you’ll do!” And thus my favourite soup to date was born. You don’t even need to add the carrots or celery and it still tastes divine. I like to put the onions on to caramelize and then clean the kitchen or write a blog post while I wait for their deliciousness to develop. So without further ado, here’s my Luscious Leek and Onion Soup. Well first I have to tell you why it’s such a great soup to include in your life, especially during cold and flu season. You’ve got to work for it a little bit 😉
Thyme
This delicious and fragrant herb contains a volatile oil called thymol and if you’ve read any of my previous posts you’re probably well aware that the volatile oils of foods are where the magic happens. Thyme’s major volatile oil is excellent for helping manage and heal chest and respiratory issues. It’s also a sweet anti-microbial and anti-fungal, with research showing that it’s quite effective against Staphalococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis,Escherichia coli and Shigella sonnei bacteria.
Garlic
This delicious little fella packs quite the nutritional punch. Thanks to its sulfur content, specifically in the form of allicin, garlic has great anti-bacterial and antiviral properties and it totally helps boost antioxidant activity. These same sulfur compounds also help regulate inflammation in the body by inhibiting specific enzymes, lipoxygenase & cyclooxygenase, that generate inflammatory prostaglandins. Sciencey terms aside, garlic is generally just great for your body ☺
Onions
Like garlic, onions of all varieties contain sulfur and we already know how good naturally occurring sulfur-phytonutrients are for our bodies. Onions are also a sweet source of chromium, a trace mineral that your body needs to produce glucose tolerance factor. This mineral helps your cells respond to insulin and is, therefore, critical for blood sugar management.
As we can see, this soup is great for boosting immunity during the winter when colds and flus are so rampant in schools and the workplace. Bonus points if you make your soup with homemade bone broth, as you’ll be incorporating a healthy dose of minerals and L-glutamine into your diet to help soothe and heal the digestive tract. Not too shabby for a little bowl of soup, huh?
Best Ever Leek & Onion Soup Recipe
Ingredients
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil or butter
• 1 leek→ Optional. You can just sub an extra onion if you can’t find any leeks
• 4 white onions, roughly diced
• 1 red onion, roughly diced
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• Stock or water
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 tsp. thyme dried or 1 tbsp. fresh
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning (dried) or 1 tbsp. fresh (typically includes marjoram, sage, rosemary, parsley, savory, and thyme)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• Sea salt to taste
Directions
1. Add oil, leeks, and onions to a medium saucepan over medium low heat, cover, and cook until lightly caramelized, stirring occasionally.
2. Once onions are lightly caramelized, add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
3. Add carrots and celery and cook another 2 minutes.
4. Add enough broth or water to cover veggies by about an inch.
5. Bring to boil, then simmer on low for approximately 20 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and puree using a hand held blender. Add coconut milk and briefly puree once more.
7. Return pot to heat and add thyme, poultry season, apple cider vinegar, and salt.
8. Allow to simmer another 10-15 minutes.
9. Taste, taste, taste! You may want to adjust the seasonings a bit to your own preference. Have fun and get creative ☺ A little honey may make this all the sweeter.
Well there you are folks! A sweet new recipe and the promise of fun times to come. Have a wonderfully whimsical day!
Cheers,
Caitlin
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