So… I have a confession. I work in a health food store within one of Melbourne’s largest markets. I am surrounded by fresh and organic produce – access to cheap, healthy food has never been so easy. But sometimes, when the sun is shining, I spend my lunch break sitting in the sunshine, just thinking and enjoying the rare Melbourne sun on my skin, rather than buying said fresh, cheap, organic produce. But that twenty minutes I spend in the sun does me so much good (anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a lady of the sunshine and I generally wilt in winter) and sometimes means I forgo buying my fresh fruit and veggies. Sometimes, if I am super organised I can fit both into my break. But if I am not organised, which is more often than not, I have to go to the supermarket on the way home from work, and give my hard earned pennies to a giant corporation instead of the local families who own the stores in the market. And the food is way more expensive. And the veggies aren’t as fresh. And I get a case of the guilts. But sometimes that twenty minutes of sunshine is worth it!
Anyway, on a recent expedition to the supermarket, I came across some pre-made soup. It sounded so good – coconut curry cauliflower soup. Yum! But then I took a closer look at the label of the product – scrutinising the ingredients (as you do). Yeast extract/MSG, sugar, preservative 220, thickeners etc… safe to say that soup got put back on the shelf and did not come home with me. But then I wanted soup! So I bought the ingredients and I went home and made it and it was so delicious, cheap and easy that I wanted to share it!
You will need:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cauliflower
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 litre vegetable stock (yeast extract/MSG free)
- 1 tin BPA free coconut milk
- 2 tbsp pure curry powder (read the label for fillers such as wheat)
- 1 bag organic spinach
Directions: sauté onion and garlic together in coconut oil until transparent. Add cauliflower florets, vegetable stock, coconut milk and curry powder, and add enough water to cover the cauliflower. Bring to the boil and then simmer until cauliflower is cooked. Add spinach. Blitz in blender or with stick mixer, adding water to thin if required. Eat!
This meal is medicine because:
- Onion, garlic and cauliflower all support liver detoxification, helping to eliminate toxins and excess hormones (I am not really a fan of the word ‘detox’ as I find it is normally used as a marketing tool to promote weird expensive powders from the Amazon, which promise the world but in reality do little more than exploit the environment and farmers of developing nations – however the sulfur compounds and indoles in these veggies literally support biochemical detoxification pathways within the liver)
- Curry powder stimulates circulation of blood to the extremities and digestive system, keeping you warm and helping you to assimilate nutrients
- Coconut oil contains lauric acid which has antimicrobial properties and supports satiation
- It contains no yeast extract/MSG, sugar, preservative 220, thickeners etc found in pre-made supermarket soups
- It is full of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, pantothenic acid, carotenoids, iron and magnesium
- It is warming and easy to digest – good for your soul and your tummy
- It’s green!
Image via Pinterest; my soup styling skills are amateur at best 😉