An easy to prepare, light winter soup

It's been a bear of a week, weather-wise, with temperatures in the North East USA dipping into the single digits and lots of snowfall everywhere.

Sometimes, on days like this, that ancestral urge to huddle around the hearth and eat meat can overwhelm balanced meal preparation. Particularly if we are busy and on the run, when convenience wins out and we can all too easily pop into our mouths whatever is already available and easy.

So here's my easy recipe to counter that urge to eat unbalanced, unhealthy or convenience items. This recipe is as easy as it gets.

Winter Broccoli Soup

2 Heads of Broccoli, bottoms trimmed and cut into pieces

1 Parsnip peeled (or Carrot)

1 Shallot sliced or a half of an onion.

1 large lemon, squeezed. If organic, add in the lemon peel for extra nutrients*

Handful of parsley or basil or arugula leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive Oil for dripping on top

OPTIONAL toppings

1 soft boiled egg, swirled in

1 TB grated Parmesan

1 TB of yogurt, cow or goat milk

Fermented hot sauce

Steam the broccoli, parsnip and shallot for a few minutes in 2 to 2.5 cups of water until the broccoli turns bright green. And then turn off the flame and let the vegetables continue to soften. Allow the temperature to lower for at least 10 minutes.

Then pour the vegetables and steaming water into a high speed blender or Vitamix. Begin to blend, then pause the blender to add in the parsley or basil leaves, the squeezed lemon juice (and lemon peel), salt and pepper to taste and continue to blend until the consistency is even.

Pour into cups or bowls, add 1-2 teaspoons olive oil per cup and other optional toppings.

Then serve and enjoy!

* Lemon peels have lots of beneficial effects in the body, including reducing oxidative stress with their high amounts of citrus bio-flavonoids, helping to maintain healthy blood pressure, cleansing the liver and helping to fight cancer growth. For more info, also check out:

http://www.newhealthguide.org/Eating-Lemon-Peel.html