I’m starting week two in self-quarantine over here and if you can’t tell, I’ve been a cooking machine. I mean… I guess that’s my job normally anyways, but my home kitchen doesn’t normally see this much action. I’m loving it! So much fun! I feel a big pull to get you as many easy simply healthy delicious recipes as I can that you can make with what’s in your pantry and fridge with a very basic kitchen set up. Some more complex things may be sprinkled in here and there, but I’m focused on EASY simple pantry eats right now.
Like… I have a big batch of adzuki beans leftover from Superfresh! and I needed to use them up. While I can freeze beans, my freezer is very full and I might as well use them up now. On the list has been this healing soup and beet burgers with adzuki beans (recipe coming soon).
This is a nice and easy, and very nourishing soup. Filled with lots of color, mushrooms, hearty greens, and legumes for an extra protein kick.
Feel free to swap the adzuki beans for lentils, garbanzo beans, or white beans.
Crimini mushrooms could be replaced with portabella or shiitake (or a medley!).
Swiss chard can be replaced with any hearty green (kale, collards, spinach).
Garlic would be a GREAT addition to add in to sautée with the celery amp; carrot for added immune boost. I was just running low and wanted to save it for other things.
Please feel free to play! Always! My goal is to help give you ideas and base recipes to empower you in your kitchen so you can run with it!
I highly recommend that you wash ALL of your produce, especially during this time we are in. This is not something I would do much at home, only buying organic and not minding a little dirt. But right now we need to do everything we can to protect ourselves. And it’s just good practice. You never know who touched it (or how many hands) before you, plus it will help to get off some chemical residue (especially important for non-organic).
- To wash your produce simply place in a large bowl or pot in your sink, cover with warm water, add a couple pumps of clean natural dish soap. I add a couple drops of lemon essential oil*, as it is extra cleansing and very good at getting off residue. I keep it right next to my sink at all times so I’m ready to go. Any dish soap, vinegar, or lemon juice will work fine. Just be careful you’re not adding toxins when you’re trying to wash them away. It may clean off things like the current threat, but it adds to the toxic load on our bodies, which in turn makes our bodies work much harder and weakens the immune system.
- Scrub each produce gently (or firmly when possible with harder fruits and veggies).
- Strain and rinse well.
- If you’re not using right away, allow to sit in strainer (or on a clean rag or paper towel) to dry before storing.
*Note on essential oils: Not all essential oils are created equally, please be careful and know that the industry is highly unregulated, many use fillers and other chemicals. I only use doTERRA because they put each batch through 3rd party lab tests and spec reports are available to view with a code on every bottle. Learn more here.
Adzuki Mushroom Chard Healing Soup
Yields approximately 4 quarts (1 gallon)
INGREDIENTS
1 medium sweet yellow onion, sliced
5 stalks celery, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into full moons
4 cups crimini mushrooms (can sub with portabella, shiitake, etc.)
2 cups coconut aminos
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups adzuki beans, cooked
4 cups medicinal mushroom broth (can sub water or vegetable broth)
2 bunches Swiss chard, chopped
1 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan fine ground)
pinch fine ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
Food waste tip: Save onion peels and ends, mushroom caps, carrot ends and peels, celery butts, and any “discarded” pieces, being mindful to compost parts that aren’t good (moldy, slimy, etc.). Store in a bag or reusable container in the freezer and once it’s full make a batch of vegetable broth!
DIRECTIONS
For Medicinal Mushroom Broth: add 5 cups water to a sauce pot with 1-2 small chunks of chaga and a slice of reishi mushroom. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook for at least 1-3 hours. You can make a larger quantity to have on hand for other recipes (use this instead of water when brewing coffee, cooking rice or oatmeal, in soups, etc.). Freezes well.
Slice mushrooms and place in a container or bowl. Cover with 2 cups coconut aminos + 1/4 cup olive oil to marinate. Marinate for ideally 1-2 hours. Do not place in fridge to marinate, as it will slow the process greatly.*
While mushrooms are marinating, add onions, 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt to your soup pot on a medium to low heat. Cook down until translucent / golden.
Add celery and carrot to pot and cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften (roughly 5 minutes)
Add remaining ingredients and continue cooking on a low heat until Swiss chard has softened
Serve as is or over some grain (like millet or brown rice) for a heartier meal.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. This also freezes well!
*If you don’t want to or have time to marinate the mushrooms you can simply sautée them with the onion and add the coconut aminos to the soup when you add the other broth
