Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 cups leeks (about 2-3 large or 4-5 small), sliced
• 4 cups sweet potatoes (about 2 small), diced
• 3 cups zucchini (about 2 small), chopped
• 6 cups vegetable broth 
• mineral salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons turmeric or curry powder, optional
• 2 tablespoons basic cashew sour cream, optional
• chopped fresh chives or scallions, for garnish

Chop and prepare your vegetables. For the leeks, once sliced place them in a bowl of cool water swishing them around to rinse away any dirt that is trapped, drain in a colander giving another good rinse, or simply use a colander making sure to break up the rings releasing any dirt in between. The sweet potatoes can either be peeled or left unpeeled.

In a large dutch oven or stock pot, heat oil over medium, add leeks and saute until softened, about five minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, zucchini, vegetable broth, salt, pepper and optional turmeric, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool about 10 - 15 minutes. Using a hand held submersion blender, blend until creamy. Add the cream and blend again. Or you may opt to use a blender or food processor to blend your soup (this will most likely take two batches to complete).

Serve hot or chilled (I especially liked this warm or at room temp). Makes about 4 servings.

Notes:

Feel free to add in some unsweetened non-dairy milk if your soup is super thick, about 1/4 - 1/2 cup.

This soup is wonderful on it's own without the optional turmeric or curry powder. I have them here in case you would like to vary the recipe up from time to time. Turmeric is noted for it's ability as an anti-inflammatory and cancer inhibitor, adding to the soup will enhance the nutritional profile. As for the curry, if you love it, it will also complement the soup nicely!

This would be great with some spiralized or julienned zucchini noodles.

For some spiciness, try adding a sprinkle of ground cayenne or chipotle powder when serving.

If you're not a fan of sweet potatoes, sub in regular potatoes instead.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 - 2 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated 
• 4 cups water or vegetable broth (I used water)
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) white miso paste
• 8 oz. organic silken tofu, sliced thin and at room temperature
• cayenne pepper as garnish, to taste 
• chives, chopped OR scallions, thinly sliced

In a large dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium heat, add onion, carrots and garlic, saute until onion is translucent, about 7 minutes. Add liquids and ginger. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender.

Let soup cool a bit. Add miso to soup and puree using 1 of 3 methods: An immersion blender right in the por, a food processor or a regular blender. You may have to puree the latter two methods in batches.

Add a bit more water as needed. Taste for seasoning adding salt, especially if you didn't use veggie stock you may like to add salt. Add pepper, more miso or grated ginger to taste.

Slice your tofu, ladle your soup into serving bowls, top with tofu, a sprinkle of cayenne for some heat and a nice bunch of chives or scallions.

Ingredients

• 2 large tomatoes
• 5 or 6 grape tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• a few cilantro, parsley or basil leaves
• a few chives
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• himalayan salt to taste

Quarter your tomatoes. Core and de-seed your bell pepper, cut into slices. Place all ingredients in food processor/blender and blend until a soup consistency. Taste for flavor adding extra ingredients to suit your taste. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice over top and some chopped chives, parsley or basil. Serves one or two small as an appetizer. Feel free to warm gently.

Notes: 

Would be great with julienned or spiralized zucchini noodles.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hemp hearts
• 1/3 cup water, plus more as needed for thinning
• juice of 1 medium lemon
• a few strands chives, broken into 1 inch pieces
• a few sprig leaves fresh dill 
• a few sprig tops fresh cilantro and/or parsley
• dash or two garlic powder
• dash or two onion powder
• himalayan salt to taste 

Using a blender, I used the magic bullet for this, combine ingredients and blend until smooth. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Taste for flavor adding anything extra to suit your taste...more lemon?...more herbs?...more garlic or onion powder? Chill before serving. Makes about 5 servings.

Store in an air tight container in refrigerator for up to a week.

Note: I have not made this in a regular blender. The magic bullet works wonders but if you don't have one this should work fine your blender at home. You may consider doubling the recipe if using a larger blender. Mix and match herbs to suit your taste.


Fresh dill sprigs can be frozen for up to a couple months, but they will darken in color. There is no need to thaw before using. Frozen dill weed will still always have more flavor than dried dill. Below are two methods for freezing dill.

Cilantro is best used fresh, freezing turns it mushy, so fresh is best for great flavor.

Parsley is another herb that freezes well. You can freeze parsley the same as dill by using one of the two methods provided below.

Chives also freeze well. Frozen chives have the same flavor as fresh chives. To freeze chives you can cut the strands into small pieces, lay on cookie sheet and place in freezer for about 20 minutes. Once frozen place in air tight container, should last up to year. You can also freeze by using the ice cube tray method below.


Dill: Place a bunch of dill, stalks and all, in a reusable plastic bag or airtight container. Once the dill freezes, use clean kitchen shears to remove the needed portion, then return the remaining dill to the freezer. Entire stalks can be used to flavor soups and stews, then use a slotted spoon to remove the dill just before serving.

Parsley: Chop parsley into small pieces, place in reusable plastic bag or airtight container.

Ice Cubes:

An ice cube tray provides serving size cubes of herbs that can be tossed into soups, stews and other hot dishes. Dice the herbs, place a small amount in each section of an ice cube tray, add water and freeze. Once frozen, remove the cubes and store them in resealable plastic bag or freezer container. You can also add veggie broth instead of water, or combine herbs as well for a ready to use herbal blend.