Favorite Comfort Soup Recipe

Fancy Bright Red Soup
Turns pink when you add a spoonful of mayonnaise to the bowl just before serving.

[Gluten-free/Casein-free, vegan]


This soup is bright red and delicious. Should put a healthy blush on your cheeks and color on your lips and according to Chinese medicine, should be good for your blood. I make this during “that time.” It will replenish you, satisfy you, and you won’t have cravings or mood swings.

Serves 6

Use all organic ingredients to minimize pesticides.
Buy locally grown products to help the environment (less shipping.)
This soup is great for making after a visit to the local Farmer’s Market.
It's great in the winter or fall, since it uses winter vegetables.
It is excellent served cold in the summer.

Ingredients:
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4 beets with tops, peeled, cubed and reserve ½ of the leafy part of the tops.
1 large onion, or 2 leeks, or 4 scallions, chopped
2 to 4 carrots with tops, sliced or cubed.
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
2 stalks of celery with tops, chopped
6-8 leaves of red cabbage (1/4 of a cabbage), chopped
3-4 small red potatoes, scrubbed and microwaved for a few minutes each, cut into quarters
1 small apple, peeled and cubed, or 1 Tbsp real maple syrup
1 can of black beans
½ can of tomato paste (freeze the rest in a baggie for next time.)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp. Turmeric
1 Tbsp. Fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp sea salt, more to taste
¼ tsp pepper, more to taste
¼-1/3 cup Organic extra virgin olive oil
mushrooms, any kind, cubed, (optional)
2-3 slices of fresh lemon, squeezed, to taste
2 – 3 cups of hot water
gluten-free/casein-free canola mayonnaise, 6 Tbsp.

Tools:
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cast iron skillet and stock pot, a very sharp Chinese vegetable knife helps with all the chopping.

Instructions:
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In a cast iron skillet, saute the onions in some of the olive oil until golden, add crushed garlic, sauté a minute, set aside.
Saute the mushrooms, set aside.
Boil the water.
Saute the beets, carrots, celery, red pepper, apple, a few minutes in some of the olive oil.
Add the red cabbage, sauté two more minutes.
Add the beans and potatoes, cook for a few minutes.
Combine with the previously sauted ingredients.
Add the hot water.
Add some of the carrot and beet tops, to taste.
Don’t overcook.
Add the salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste.

Simmer 10 minutes.


Just before serving, remove a few quarters of potato, and mash with a fork and add back to the soup to thicken it. Add water if needed to make it less thick.
You can also take 1/3 of the soup and put it in a blender to make it smoother.

Serve in bowls with a tablespoon of mayonnaise on top.
While eating the soup, when you stir the mayo into the soup, it turns pink.

I sometimes make this soup with meat as a flavoring.
Start by sautéing a few soup bones (lately I like lamb,) then set aside, and in the same pan, sauté the vegetables. The bones and the marrow add a lot of the flavor.
You can also get a good flavor by sauteing a few strips of bacon first, and using some of the drippings to sauté the vegetables, mix ½ and ½ with the olive oil.
Or you can use a good quality organic chicken stock. I also have used lamb for this dish. Never use large amounts of meat. 1 –2 ounces per person is enough.
Add the meat back into the dish when combining everything before simmering.