roasted zucchini and cabbage soup

Another soup! While the weather may be heating up, this soup is full of early summer produce, making it perfect for this time of year. Even better, it is less time consuming than my previous soup recipe, meaning less time in the kitchen. Of course, that doesn't mean it's a throw-together recipe. This soup will show you a whole new way of connecting you to your food. For me, it starts on Saturday mornings, hours before the thought of "what's for dinner" crosses my mind. 

 

Saturday morning means one thing in Portland: the farmer's market. It is more than a shopping trip; it becomes a whole body, whole mind experience. The farmer's market experience is all about taking it slow. I scan the beautiful produce and run to whatever catches my eye. I take my time picking out the fruits and veggies that are calling my name. This process, whether it be at the market or in a grocery store, should be meditative. DO NOT RUSH. This is a prefect opportunity to listen to what your body is craving. I am a strong believer that our bodies have the inherent ability to tell us what we need, but only if we are open to listening. Maybe you'll take home the hot pink radishes. Perhaps it's the tiny speckled eggs that are speaking to you. The key is to have an openness to grab whatever it is that draws you in.

The main purpose of this space is to spread the message of mindful eating and listening to our bodies. If we can make our cooking and eating experiences joyful, we can heal our bodies and minds. We may even be able to avoid the plethora of health issues rampant in today's culture.

Thich Nhat Hahn is a well-known Zen philosopher whose book How to Eat introduced me to the concept of mindfulness, and for this I am very thankful. Through the simple practices he writes about, I have been able to gain a better awareness of my eating, and how to truly nourish my whole self. Mindfulness meditation is the practice of living in the present moment as best as one can, really stopping to take in the world around us and not dwelling on the past. It is a practice that we can all benefit from.

Mindfulness eating is the ability to be present for mealtime. How many times have we scarfed down a meal in front of the TV, or while rushing out of the door? The ability to live in the present moment allows you to focus on every aspect of a meal. Ask yourself this simple list of questions while eating: How are the ingredients grown?  How did they get to me?  How many different people and animals did it take to get this to me? How was the meal prepared? Am I enjoying this? Is my physical body telling me to get more? Am I full? Am I happy? This awareness not only increases our pleasure of the food we are eating, but allows us to focus more on the amounts of what we are putting into our bodies, hopefully so that we can avoid many of the health issues that our society faces

 

You should think about all the food that is going into your body because life is a gift that should not be taken for granted. What goes in ... can take a long time to come out, if it is junk. With the abundance of good food around us, mealtime shouldn't be a time of stress, but rather a chance to nourish our minds, bodies, and souls!

Ingredients:

• 8 small-sized zucchinis
• 1 medium-sized leek
• ¼ head of a medium-sized green cabbage
• ½ cup of raw cashews (soaked for 5+ hrs, then drained and rinsed)
• 3 cups of veggie broth
• 2 tbsp of grapeseed oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp of wasabi powder (or sub dried turmeric)
• 2 tsp of Braggs liquid aminos
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• Himalayan sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients on your workspace.
2. Scan your produce and think about the journey each ingredient took before making it to where it is now. Keep in mind the amount of care that went into the soil, in which these ingredients grew, and all the people it took to bring this beautiful bounty to your kitchen.
3. Take some deep, grounding breaths and feel your connection to the life-giving foods in front of you.
4. Preheat oven to 400° F.
5. Start by chopping up the zucchini, leek and cabbage into 1 inch square pieces. Transfer to a bowl and coat with the grapeseed oil. Place on baking sheet (taking care not spread the veggies out too far) with garlic (whole, naked cloves) and bake for 30 minutes.
6. While the veggies are roasting, place soaked cashews, 1 cup of veggie broth, wasabi powder (or turmeric), liquid aminos, and pepper in a blender.
   Blend until ingredients are smooth and lump free.
7. Once the veggies are done roasting, add them to the blender along with 1 ½ to 2 cups of broth and blend until smooth.
8. Salt to taste and place in refrigerator to chill.
9. Before eating, look back on all of the effort that you put into creating this wonderful soup and get prepared to be all sorts of nourished. 
10. Enjoy. Be Mindful.