Immune Boosting Soup

A ginger turmeric soup poured over spiraled butternut squash noodles with an optional addition of fresh greens over rice or quinoa.

Course Soup

Servings people

Calories 234

Author Timothy Pakron

Ingredients

3 cups celery about 5 to 6 stalks
2 cups carrots 4 to 5 carrots
2 cups chopped leeks only the white and light green parts* (2 stalks)
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms 3.5 oz pack, de-stemmed
3 cups chopped onion 1 large onion
¼ cup fresh ginger microplaned or grated + minced
2 tablespoons turmeric microplaned or grated + minced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic 3 to 5 cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil or desired oil
¼ cup nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne or desired amount
1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
8 cups filtered water plus more if desired
4 cups peeled and spiralized butternut squash 1 small squash
A few handfuls of kale if desired
2 to 3 heaping tablespoons chopped parsley if desired
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup unpasteurized chickpea miso or desired miso

Instructions

Add the celery, carrots, leeks, shiitakes, onion, ginger, turmeric, garlic, olive oil, nutritional yeast, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt (start with less if you are sensitive) in a large pot. Mix well and bring to medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to sweat, becoming soft and tender but while maintaining some crunch.
Pour in the water and bring the heat up to high. Once to a boil, throw in the butternut squash noodles. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the squash noodles are tender. Remove from heat and throw in the kale and parsley. Mix well.
In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, miso, and one ladle of broth until smooth. Pour the mixture into the soup and stir to incorporate. Give it a taste and add more sea salt and cayenne pepper if desired. I did. 🙂

Notes

For the leeks, you want to only use the white and baby green parts. The dark green leaves are fibrous and undesirable. One you remove the dark green leaves, slice the stalk in half and you notice loads of dirt. Make sure to rinse all that out thoroughly! I even rinse the leeks once more after cutting because no one likes sand in their soup.

You can buy pasteurized miso if that's all you have access to, but the good stuff with all of the probiotics will be in the refrigerated section. Adding this to the soup at the very end will help keep them alive. Chickpea miso is a great option for people who try or need to avoid soy.

Nutrition