Contributor
May 17, 20232 min
Updated: Jul 3, 2023
I just love cooking for my family when I’m feeling healthy and up and about. I especially love baking and making soups and curries in this cold weather. This is a recipe for a green soup, my way.
I usually have raw greens and unheated good oils with every meal, so I added chopped kale, ground flax seeds, coconut and olive oil to the soup before enjoying it.
Feel free to adjust the ingredient list and the amounts to your liking and according to your pot size. I prefer cooking with grated potatoes instead of hand-blending the broth at the end.
Ernestine Deane
1-2 onions, sliced
1-2 cloves
Star anise, to taste
½ tsp (2 ml) turmeric
1 tsp (5 ml) coarse black pepper
1 pinch cumin seeds
1 heaped tsp (7 ml) jeera (ground cumin)
Oil (coconut or sunflower), for frying
1-2 cups (250-500 ml) split peas, soaked for at least 30 minutes and then rinsed
4 large potatoes, grate 2 and dice 2 in cubes
2 sweet potatoes, grate 1 and dice 1 in cubes
½ bunch of celery, chopped
A few garlic cloves, chopped
Green chilli, to taste (optional)
Braise the onions and spices in oil.
Add the split peas, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and brown with the onions and spices.
Add the celery. Cover with water and simmer with the lid on for about an hour, until all the ingredients are soft and the soup is thick and creamy, while adding water as needed.
A foodie friend who lived in Japan for a long time once told me that in their culture you do not dish immediately once the food is done. There is a beautiful Japanese phrase for this practice that I have forgotten, but the gist of it is to leave the food to be quiet for a few minutes, to “realise” that it is now no longer many individual ingredients anymore, but has become one dish in service to you, for the nourishment of your body and soul. So, to honour this practice, I always leave the food covered for a little while before dishing.
Enjoy!
In Japan you do not dish immediately once the food is done. Instead, you leave the food to be quiet for a few minutes, to “realise” that it is now no longer many individual ingredients, but has become one dish in service to you, for the nourishment of your body and soul.