We at Embodied Empowerment are strong believers in the power of nourishment through food. Food is a wonderful way to connect to nature, ourselves and each other. In fact whenever our team meets up or we hold our ‘Practitioner meet-ups’ we always share food together.
“I’ve always been a strong believer in ‘Soup Therapy’ ,'' explains Sophie co-founder of Embodied Empowerment. “Whenever I feel stressed, overwhelmed, emotional or just a bit meh, I make soup! Taking the time to choose the right recipe to suit my mood, carefully selecting the stars of the show - my chosen vegetables! Followed by the wonderfully grounding and simple act of chopping and stirring when cooking. Finally finishing with being able to nourish myself from the inside, by eating up a delicious soup I took the time to create all for me… and any lucky pals I chose to share it with!”
Enjoy our monthly Blog Post - Soup of The Month where we share a new seasonal, nourishing soup recipe every month.
Here’s this month's recipe from our resident Chef Nicoletta Tavella - La Cucina del Sole.
This soup will be ready in no time if you cut the potatoes in small chunks. The broccoli will only need about 10 minutes and in the meantime, you can sauté the shiitake that will be added to the soup just before serving.
You can make this dish completely vegan by substituting the butter with the same quantity of extra virgin olive oil. I’ve used a very delicate goat butter which is a lot more digestible for people with lactose intolerance.
I love to serve this with good sourdough multigrain bread, slightly toasted.
Broccoli is great for strengthening cognitive abilities such as focus, memory, and concentration. It contains lots of calcium and plenty of natural antihistamines that help fight seasonal allergies, sinus infections, flu, watery eyes, colds, and bronchitis.
Potatoes contain quercetin, an antioxidant with powerful anti-cancer and cardio-protective properties. They’re very beneficial in case of depression, sleep disorders, and stress-related conditions.
Shiitake mushrooms are incredibly rich and “fleshy”, full of good proteins and immune-boosting and cancer-fighting properties. They also contain interferons, natural proteins with strong antiviral effects.
Thyme has incredible antiviral properties and contains carvacrol, a natural tranquillizer that benefits the entire nervous system.
Paprika is high in vitamin A & C, bioflavonoids and antioxidants. It helps to relieve the symptoms of common colds (runny nose, sore throat, congestion and headache).
This soup is the perfect comfort food when you crave something warm, nutritious and filling, yet with the “right” carbs.
Enjoy!
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Serves 2-3
1 medium-sized onion
2 + 1 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon (or more if desired) of paprika powder, mild or hot
3 + 1 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
300 gr. potatoes
1 vegetable stock cube (optional, possibly organic and without MSG)
few sprigs of fresh thyme or a pinch of dried thyme
400 gr. broccoli stalks included
sea salt
black pepper (optional)
Peel and chop the onion and 2 garlic cloves (keep one for sautéing the mushrooms).
Rinse and peel the potatoes, then cut them into small chunks.
Warm three tablespoons of olive oil in a deep pan and add onion, garlic and paprika powder.
Gently fry until the onion and the garlic become softer.
Add the potato chunks, the thyme (keep one or two sprigs/a small pinch aside for the mushrooms) and 2 litres of water. Use hot water if you want to speed up the cooking process.
Add 1 stock cube (optional, you can add more salt at the end) and leave the soup on a low flame until the potatoes are almost completely cooked.
Add the broccoli cut in rosettes and cook for about 10 minutes until they’re tender but not overcooked. They have to keep a nice bright green colour (if you cook them too long they become darker).
In the meantime, clean the shiitake mushrooms with a brush or some kitchen paper and cut them into pieces. You can use the stalks too, they’re nice and fleshy.
Gently sauté them in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil together with the remaining garlic clove, peeled and crushed, and the left-over thyme sprigs until nicely cooked but still firm. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Remove the thyme stalks from the soup.
Blend the soup with an immersion mixer or in the blender until perfectly smooth.
If desired, season further with salt and pepper.
Serve garnished with warm mushrooms and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
TIP: you can use sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. This will change the colour and the taste of the soup making it sweeter and the cooking time will be considerably shorter!
https://www.cucinadelsole.nl/broccoli-potato-and-shiitake-soup/