Ayurvedic Spinach & Mushroom Soup (Vegan)

The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for Medicine was awarded to three American scientists "whose work has left us at an important juncture where...insights from Ayurvedic and modern medicine could probably offer solutions." Solutions for not only keeping us healthy based on the circadian rhythm, but also curing us when we get a disease.*

Ayurvedic medicine is the traditional Hindu belief system of striving for balance in all of the body's systems. Ayurvedic practitioners believe that your nutritional health "is the result of what, when, where, how and why you eat... Food should be eaten mindfully, with gratitude, and be lovingly prepared with the highest ingredients."**

This Spinach and Mushroom Soup comes close to providing the "sweet, sour, salty, warm, heavy and moist" elements prescribed for a dish. And to align with the circadian rhythm, please enjoy the soup between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM for the best metabolism, digestion, and energy production!



My Paleo Marin Rating: 4.8 Persimmons

Vegetable Stock

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small bunch parsley
1 leek, green parts

Directions:

1. Wash and roughly chop all the vegetables. No need to peel the vegetables.
2. Generously cover them with water in a 5 qt. stock pot.
3. Bring water to just under a boil over high heat. Turn heat down, and gently simmer for about an hour. Stir occasionally.
4. When finished simmering, remove the vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon. Pour the stock through a colander covered with cheesecloth. 
5. Add to the soup recipe below. Or store in airtight containers for up to a week, or freeze to use later.

Soup

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or butter or ghee for non-vegan)
1 lb. mixed mushrooms such as brown cremini, shiitake, chanterelles, etc., chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground allspice

5 cups homemade vegetable stock (may have to add water to equal 5 cups)
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper

5 ounces baby spinach, washed

Fresh lime juice to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a 5 qt. stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released the liquid and are well-browned, about 8-10 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato paste, thyme, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and allspice. Cook until the spices are fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Cook gently for 20 minutes.

4. Stir in the baby spinach and let cook until just wilted, 1-2 minutes.

5. When ready to serve, add fresh lime juice and check for seasonings.

6. Store extra in airtight containers in fridge, or freeze to eat later.

Serves 4.

#paleo #ayurvedic #soup #spinach #mushrooms #vegetarian #vegan #glutenfree #dairyfree #Indian #Pakistani #nobelpeaceprize

*Quotes from The Swarajya Magazine article "This Year's Nobel Prize in Medicine Puts Fresh Focus on Ayurveda" here.

**Ayurvedic references from the Balance and Bliss website here.
Vegetable Stock recipe adapted from The Kitchn recipe here.
Soup recipe adapted from the New York Times recipe here.

My Paleo Marin Rating 1-5 Persimmons

I try out these recipes so you don't have to (and modify them for Paleo where possible). The rating will reflect my opinion of the final result in terms of taste, ease of preparation, nutrition, and sometimes, cost.