Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Home Sick Soup #2

My last Home Sick Soup post featured hot, soothing Tomato Rasam, a quick and spicy Indian soup just right for a day stuck at home with the sniffles.

Today I made another favorite Sick Day Soup of mine, Dr. Fuhrman's Famous Soup. I love the Big Production Number that is the making of this soup. I set aside an hour or two, pull out all the fancy equipment (a juicer and Vita-Mix or other strong blender are required) and whip up an absolutely enormous pot of the stuff. It freezes well, so you can have it on hand in case of emergencies.

Speaking of emergencies, lately it seems that too many of the older people in our parish and family have been spending time in the hospital, dealing with surgeries, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. Many of them are coming home feeling fragile, with small appetites and instructions to lower their fat, cholesterol, and sodium.

I wanted to offer them something that was easy to eat and digest, and wouldn't do any harm by being high in salt or fat. This soup is just the thing: creamy smooth, made with split peas and veggies cooked in fresh carrot and celery juice. The soup is easy to eat and flavorful enough that you don't miss the salt. It's great on its own for those with little appetite, or served with baked winter squash, steam-fried mushrooms, and fruit for dessert.

Verdict:
If you have a juicer, a blender, and a great, big, huuuge soup pot, this is the perfect potage to share with those who are feelin' poorly.

15 comments:

Zachary said...

That sounds amazing...but I doubt I have a pot big enough to make this! However, I'm sure I can come up with something similar. What a great idea to use fresh carrot and celery juice for the base of a soup. The juicer just found another use!

NightOwl said...

How kind you are Jennifer! I'm sure everyone will be so grateful for that lovely soup. I know that's just the thing I'd want if I were sick.

Tere said...

I hope you're not actually sick, but either way the soup looks great!
Tere

Nicole said...

This is one of my favorite soups too! Great choice!

Jennifershmoo said...

>>I hope you're not actually sick

No, but I thought it would be nice to feature some lunch ideas for days when you or the little ones are home sick.

Brian said...

what happened to the Tomato Rasam recipe? Was it taken down?

Jennifershmoo said...

Sorry! The link broke when I changed the post title; refresh and it should work now.

Kate said...

Oh yum, soup when your sick is good. I hope you feel better. I love the post under this with the halloween food, you have some great ideas.

funwithyourfood said...

i'm sorry to hear about the illnesses. But it's a good thing you're there to help them out. Are those little hearts on the bowl part of the bowl or food??

teddy

Jennifershmoo said...

They're little slices of cooked carrot, cut into hearts. :-)

High Power Rocketry said...

Cute one : )

Jennifershmoo said...

>>I'm thinking I'll just use whole carrots and whole celery (instead of just the juice) and just vitamix this soup in batches? That'd work right?

No, I'm afraid it won't work well. The fiber from all those carrots and celery will be very thick and unpleasant. You can blend them in the Vitamixer and strain them through a mesh juicing bag.

Or -- and this would be a lot easier -- buy some carrot juice and use about 3 - 4 cups in the soup.

a.J. ("( 'o', ) said...

Jen, did you see tyler florence from foodnetwork's food 911 vegan episode.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_fo/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9964_21965,00.html
here's the link...
i love indian food, and i hope you do as well ^_^

Jennifershmoo said...

Hey, Austin, I sent you an email!

Unknown said...

I actually made this delicious soup with my Vita-Mix (pureed about 5 carrots and celery stalks) and used that instead of the fiberless-juice. It worked wonderfully! Tasted great. Just a thicker soup!

Also, you could always add broth if you wanted a thinner soup.