I love using healing ingredients in my recipes.
This Curried Lentil Soup with Burdock Root is both delicious and health supportive. Here’s are 8 ingredients and how they can support your health:
- Curry contains a variety of anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric, cumin, fenugreek and coriander.
- Lentils, rich in fiber, help move food and waste through your digestive system.
- Onions and garlic, from the allium family, contain sulphur compounds that support liver health.
- Sodium-rich celery stimulates hydrochloric acid and without that, you cannot digest food!
- Burdock root supports bile production and lipid metabolism.
- Alaria is a mucilaginous sea vegetable (seaweed) that soothes the digestive tract.
- Spinach…. well, if it was good for Popeye for goshsakes, it’s good for us too!
- Cilantro is one of my favorite herbs that is also a gentle heavy metal detoxifier.
The only ingredient on the recipe list that may be hard to find is burdock root. It’s considered a weed and not many places carry it.
Mostly, I purchase burdock fresh from my local farmer’s market. And, I have seen it at Whole Foods and other Health Food Stores. If you don’t know what it looks like or what else it’s good for, you can find information and a picture here: Healing Power of Burdock root.
If you cannot find it fresh, you can purchase Dried Burdock Root. Take 2-3 tbsp. of the dried root, cover with water to reconstitute (a few hours or simply soak it overnight). Add the soaked root pieces, plus soaking water into the recipe.
Try the recipe below and enjoy a happy and healthy dish!
- 1½ cups green lentils
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1½-2 tsp. curry powder
- 1 tsp. cumin powder
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 large burdock root, peeled and diced
- 4 inch piece of alaria seaweedor wakame, chopped
- 4-5 cups water
- 1 bunch spinach, washed
- 1½ tsp. sea salt + ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ⅓ cup cilantro (or parsley), chopped
- Rinse lentils, cover with 2 cups water and soak overnight or 8-10 hours.
- In a large soup pot, saute onion in olive oil on medium heat.
- Add curry, cumin and pinch of salt and coat the onions.
- Add garlic, celery, carrots, and burdock and cook 2-3 minutes. .
- Pour off the lentil soaking water and discard.
- Put lentils, alaria plus 4 cups fresh water into the soup pot and bring to a boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add spinach, plus black pepper and remaining salt.
- Cover and continuing cooking 10-15 minutes.
- Toss in cilantro and serve.
Andrea Beaman is an internationally renowned Holistic Health Coach, Natural Foods Chef, Speaker, Herbalist and best-selling author. Named one of the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts, she is also a recipient of the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education and a Health Leadership award from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 1999, Andrea has been teaching people how to harness the body’s own preventative and healing powers using food, herbal remedies and alternative medicine.
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