Spring Cleansing Soup Recipe

Spring is here at last!  Let the sun shine down on our pale wintry faces and warm our sleepy slumbering souls!  Spring is a time for awakening, cleansing, and renewal.  To help my body's natural impulse to wake up, release the old, and make room for the new,  I choose to eat lighter foods that are in season or that are especially supportive of the organs responsible for detoxifying the body's tissues.

I incorporate lighter soups into my diet to help transition to this lighter way of eating during the spring.  But though I am choosing a lighter diet, I realize, too, the early spring chilly days and nights are still ever present.  Eating a warm, yet light soup can help me meet both my requirements of staying warm and giving my digestive system a break.  To support your body through this spring's transition try my Spring Cleansing Soup Recipe!

This light and tasty spring cleansing soup will have your taste buds singing and your liver humming.  It's easy, fast, and perfect for lightening the load you may have acquired over the winter - whether that load is excess weight, a build up of toxins, a lethargic mood, or all three.  In fact, many of the ingredients in this soup are high in water content and great fat burners!  The daikon radish is known for it's fat busting qualities - raw or cooked.

Ingredients:

2 large Leeks - thinly sliced

1 Onion - diced

3 Garlic Cloves - minced

1.5 cups Daikon Radish - cut into ¼ in. half moons

2 medium Carrots - diagonally sliced

1 stalk Celery - diced

1 cup Cabbage – shredded

1 cup Kale – roughly chopped

2 medium Parsnips - sliced into rounds

1 medium to large Burdock Root – sliced into half moons

1 medium to large potato - diced

6-8 cups of Chicken Stock or Water

1 tablespoon of Celtic sea salt

1/2 bunch of Parsley, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons Organic Butter

Half a Lemon

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium flame.  Once melted and hot, add onions and leeks and cook until onions begin to turn translucent (about 6 minutes).  Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, burdock, and parsnips and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and the salt, cook for another minute or two.

Add the stock or water, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.  Make sure you add enough stock to cover all the vegetables.  Add the cabbage and kale, add more stock/water if needed, cover, and turn the heat down to low so that the soup continues to cook at a simmer for an additional 30 - 45 minutes.

Upon serving add a spritz of lemon juice, drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch of freshly chopped parsley to taste.

This soup recipe should yield about 6-8 servings.