Experience Nutrition

Tag: Soup recipes

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Quick Lentil Quinoa Sweet Potato Soup

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    A few days ago a friend asked me for some ideas to create plant-based protein meals. Interestingly, when I was teaching former NFL players how to cook, one of the first questions they asked me was: “Mel, will I have to stop eating meat?”. Well, I let them know that if they ate meat, they should eat clean meat. I also let the NFL guys know that there are some great sources of plant protein, including legumes (beans, lentils) and some whole grains, such as quinoa, which is a complete protein. Lentil quinoa soup is quick and easy, as both ingredients do not need to be pre-soaked.

    Today’s soup is one that I taught former Arizona Cardinal, John Bronson how to cook. Take a look at the photos in my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating,” of John enjoying learning how to make Lentil Quinoa Soup with lots of anti-inflammatory turmeric.

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     LENTIL QUINOA SWEET POTATO SOUP RECIPE

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 cup lentils
    • 3-4 carrots and/or sweet potatoes, chopped
    • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 onion or 5-6 green onions, minced
    • 3-4 celery stalks, chopped
    • 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 5-inch strip of kombu seaweed, if desired
    • 1 cup brown rice or quinoa
    • 6-8 cups water
    • ½ tsp cumin seeds, hand-ground
    • 1 tsp black pepper
    • ½ bunch kale, torn or chopped into bite-size pieces

    Simple Steps to create your Lentil Quinoa Sweet Potato Soup

    • Step 1: Gather your mise en place.

     

    • Step 2: Heat large soup pot at medium-low, add onions and cumin seeds to pot, and sweat for 5 to 10 minutes.
    • Step 3: Add celery and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes.
    • Step 4: Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

     

    • Step 5: Add sweet potatoes to pot and cook for about 5 minutes.

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    • Step 6: Add ground turmeric to the pot.

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    • Step 7: Rinse lentils and quinoa and pour into pot.

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    • Step 8: Add about 8 cups of water to the pot.
    • Step 9: Bring soup to a boil.
    • Step 10: Lower to simmer and cook covered for about 30-45 minutes.

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    • Step 11: Enjoy. Today, I topped with fresh pea shoots for freshness.

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    If you’re interested in additional simple recipes, “A New View of Healthy Eating” is available.

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Vegan Dairy-free Butternut Squash Soup

    By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    This week I was doing some recipe flow testing in preparation for some videos, and I had the pleasure to cook the vegan dairy-free butternut squash in my book. It had been awhile since cooking this soup and I’m so glad I did. It’s a beautiful bright orange sweet soup perfect for the Fall season, even here in Phoenix!  Cooking this soup brought back memories of playing in the crisp fall leaves in our yard in Pennsylvania where I grew up and all the fun times carving pumpkins.

    A few photos from the delicious soup I cooked this week, with Arizona honey as my sweetener.

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    Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating: Vegan Dairy-Free Butternut Squash Soup

    Create your own easy-to-prepare sweet, creamy butternut squash soup. Garnish with pan-fried herbs and a drizzle of oil (walnut, pumpkin seed, or olive oil) for a beautiful presentation. When served warm in the fall, butternut squash soup is ideal for a chilly Thanksgiving. Served cold in the summer, it’s perfect for a picnic.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 shallots, minced
    • 2 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled and steamed until fork tender
    • 3 ½ cups veggie stock
    • 2 tbsp sweetener: maple syrup, molasses, or brown rice syrup
    • ¾ tsp sea salt
    • 1 tbsp olive, walnut, or pumpkin seed oil
    • Pan-fried basil for garnish

    SIMPLE STEPS

    1. Gather your mise en place.
    2. To prepare the soup, preheat a (6- to 8-quart) soup pot to medium.
    3. Add olive oil to the pot.
    4. Add shallots and sauté until golden and translucent.
    5. Pour steamed butternut squash, veggie stock, sweetener, and sea salt into the pot.
    6. Simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
    7. Using a blender or hand-stick blender, blend until smooth.
    8. Garnish with pan-fried basil and a drizzle of olive, walnut, or pumpkin seed oil.

    After you’ve learned the simple soup cooking process with butternut squash, intuitively create your own soups with different winter squash, such as acorn or pumpkin, or even sweet potatoes. Experiment with various herbs and oils as a garnish.

    If you’re looking for some simple, healthy recipes and the culinary methods to create the recipes, I invite you to take a look at my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating.

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