Not Just a Winter Soup – try this Immune-Boosting SPRING Soup

Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:36

Jim Rock

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Though the end of Winter is drawing near and Spring will soon be upon us, I imagine we will still have some chilly, crisp and Yummy SOUP-kind of nights.  I love soup anytime, but for those of you who love to eat soup during the Spring months, here is a delicious Immunity-Boosting Soup.  This soup will help to  Fight Cold and Flu Conditions.

I love garlic and I use it in almost all of my foods.  Garlic is the tastiest and best all-around stimulant for the immune system.  Feel free to add other ingredients you absolutely LOVE to make this YOUR SOUP. Try this amazing recipe for this Immune-boosting soup:

INGREDIENTS: (images of some of the ingredients are shown below)
Serves 6 to 8 

2 Quarts of Water
A large handful of dandelion greens (the weed you can eat…it’s yummy)
1 stick astragalus root, broken in half
2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and grated or chopped fine
1 small dried cayenne pepper, stemmed and seeded, diced fine (you can use dried cayenne pepper as well)
1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and thinly sliced
About ½ ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, chop mushroom coarsely
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 large sweet potato, diced into small cubes
2 generous teaspoons of dried thyme leaves, minced
1 tablespoon packed dried calendula florets, minced
1 cup diced red or yellow bell pepper
Couple pinches of cinnamon
1 bunch organic spinach, cleaned (about 2 cups packed leaves, coarsely chopped)
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare dandelion, rinse greens thoroughly. Remove and chop stems, then coarsely chop leaves. Keep chopped leaves separate from chopped stems.  Set aside.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, combine water, astragalus, ginger, cayenne, garlic, shiitake and turmeric. Cover and place over medium-high heat.  Bring to a simmer, then lower heat and cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add sweet potato, stir, cover and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes. Add minced herbs, bell pepper and cinnamon.  Stir well, cover and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes, adding dandelion stems after 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Finally, add spinach and dandelion greens. Season generously with salt and pepper (to taste) and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until greens are wilted and tender.  Adjust seasonings.  Remove astragalus root before serving.