Last winter I worked hard on perfecting my soup-making skills. I LOVE a tasty soup, but I had never been good at making homemade soups before. That all changed when I started buying raw milk from a local farm. Raw milk is very good for you. It has probiotics to help you digest the proteins and good fats that don't actually make you fat when taken in moderate amounts. People who are lactose intolerant often find that they can drink raw milk with ease. But it is VERY rich, and our family found that we just could not drink the 1 gallon a week that we had committed to buy. So I begin looking for other things I could do with the milk. Homemade vanilla pudding was heavenly. But the soups...the soups...*drool*. Just yummy. We are no longer buying the raw milk anymore because it took too much time driving out to the farm every week. I'm sad, but I needed to simplify my life. So now we settle for Costco's organic milk. It's pretty good too. BUT I hope that the soups taste as good! Another secret to good soup is GOOD broth. Home simmered stock is best, I'm sure...but as I don't often buy meat with the bone in it, I can't say that I've tried that. However, I have discovered that the organic chicken stock from Costco makes the soup taste JUST FABULOUS! Bullion simply will not do! It's too processed, not healthful, and does not have the full, rich flavor of stock.
Also, last winter I also started adding more organic greens into our meals (the organics have more micronutrients). This happened because of the recommendation of a naturopathic doctor we took Joshua too. It was the first time any of us ever went to a naturopathic doctor...but we did it because a series of events led us there. First Joshua was getting in trouble at school just because he was often being too impulsive. A staff member at the school (who knows that Brent is a pharmacist) suggested that we look into a possible medication to control his impulsiveness at school. WHAT?!! As Brent has come to know medicines, he has come to learn of their incredible risks. In our opinion, when considering a drug, all other avenues must be exhausted first. And in our opinion, these medications only have their place as a short term solution...but never at any time do they ever address the root of the problem. Well, as it turns out naturopathic medicine delves deeply into a person's body and lifestyle and aims to find the root of the problem...so drugs are often not needed. This is the lifestyle we have agreed upon for our family. When the naturopath saw Joshua, every avenue he searched, he explained to us in great detail. The golden ticket was when he tested Joshua's elemental metal levels. And guess what? Joshua was VERY low on lithium. Guess what lithium does? It helps you control your impulsiveness. And guess where you can find lithium naturally? That's RIGHT! Organic greens.
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
-Hippocrates (the father of western medicine)
And let's face it...we all know we're better off when we eat more vegetables, more greens, more organic greens. So I experimented with all different kinds of greens. And when I made this soup by taking an old recipe and changing it all around, Joshua proclaimed: I like my organic greens in SOUP! I hope you like it too!
Cheesy Cauliflower-Collard Green Soup
Put in crock pot or stove top:
2 cups of finely chopped cauliflower
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 cups chicken stock (enough to cover the vegetables)
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (I like kosher or sea salt)
Boil until tender. 10 minutes on stove top or 2 hours in crock pot. Add 2 cups of chopped collard green and simmer for another 15 minutes.
In a separate sauce pan:
melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat
stir in 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, and cook for 2 minutes (I have used freshly ground kamut or wheat flour and it worked great)
Remove from heat and
gradually stir in 5 cups of milk
Return to heat and cook until thickened
Stir in the cooked vegetables and season with salt and pepper to taste
Cook over low heat until vegetables are soft and combined with the milk mixture. If desired, vegetables may be mashed to a more creamy texture. (I use a hand blender--one of my favorite kitchen utensils)
Finally, Stir in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese until melted.
Remove from heat and serve.
I throw all the vegetables in the crock pot in the morning. All I have to do at dinner time is combine the rest of the ingredients and blend it up a little and serve with some crusty bread or homemade wheat rolls. I'm excited for dinner tonight!
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