Thursday, February 18, 2010

Lemony Brussels Sprout Soup

On one of the Nutrition DVDs from Dr. Greger mentioned a study in Food Chemistry that studied the impact of specific raw foods on different cancer cell lines. The article is quite interesting and covers stomach, lung, breast, kidney, skin, pancreas, prostate, and brain cancers. I read the article with great interest and wanted to immediately put the science into practice at our house. The bottom line of the article is that vegetables in the alliums (garlic and onions) and cruciferous (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, and savoy cabbage) family tend to inhibit cancer growth. In keeping with this article I made a quick raw soup as part of dinner tonight. Here is what I made.

Lemony Brussels Sprout Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ cup raw cashews
2 cups water
4 cups Brussels sprouts
1 lemon zested and juiced, or to taste
1 tablespoon yellow onion, peeled
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste
Veggie bacon bits, for garnish - optional

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and puree until smooth. If using a high powered blender you can cook the soup in the blender. I only pureed it until it smooth, and slightly warm. This was done to retain the maximum amount of nutrition. Taste the soup for seasoning (salt and pepper) before serving.

To serve you can top with veggie bacon bits and freshly ground black pepper.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 272.79
Calories From Fat (39%) - 107.29

Total Fat - 11.99g
Saturated Fat - 2.17g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 812.55mg
Potassium - 1198.14mg
Total Carbohydrates - 32.84g
Fiber - 9.13g
Sugar - 7.77g
Protein - 12.55g

Comments:

This definitely tastes likes Brussels sprouts but not in the same way they taste when cooked. There is no sulfur taste in this soup. The lemon gives the soup I nice acidic background. I added the garlic and onion for a little sharpness. If you are don’t like onions and garlic raw you may want to cut the quantity in half, but that will also reduce the nutrition.

Each serving of this soup contains approximately 2,400IU of vitamin A, 210mg of vitamin C, 135mg of calcium, 200mcg of folate, 450mcg of vitamin K, 320mg of phosphorus, 135mg of magnesium, and 9.5mcg of selenium. Fairly impressive for so few ingredients and so little work.

Unrelated note:

This was my first attempt at putting the ideas in the article into practice. I will say it was easier to do than I expected although I don’t have any idea what I am going to make tomorrow. Our grocery shopping is going to change a little. Brussels sprouts, savoy cabbage and leeks will now be regular items in our refrigerator. Spinach will continue to be our green of choice.

Dan and I talked about it and we will be eating a raw garlic clove each morning and evening with our green drink. Garlic had a big impact on all the cancer cell lines tested so we decided it couldn’t hurt us to make certain we get a clove or two per day. For now we are cutting up a clove every morning and evening, and allowing it to sit for 10 minutes before we consume it with food. Please don’t try to take raw garlic without food. I have tried that and you will end up with a very nauseous feeling. As long as we take it with a full stomach we haven’t had any stomach distress.

I was so busy reading about nutrition today I didn’t get back to the almond milk yogurt. The almond milk yogurt has moved to my to-do list for tonight. I will have a modified version in the frig tonight before I get into bed. Hopefully that means I will have a recipe for you tomorrow.

11 comments:

  1. This sounds excellent and I bet it would be wonderful if you feel under the weather! Your commentary was wonderful and full of imformation. I think people should know the benefits about of their food!!

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  2. Brandi,

    Thanks! I always try to cook with nutrition in mind, some days I am feeling more healthy that others. Today was one of my crazy healthy days. I haven't always cooked like this, but cancer had a profound impact on our family and my behavior.

    I completely agree that people should know more about nutrition. It is such a shame that we don't learn enough in school to stay healthy. That is one of my pet peeves.

    have a good evening,
    Alicia

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  3. Oh, this looks so delicious! I really love the sound of this soup, not only it's healthy but it seems super easy to just put all the ingredients in the blender, puree, season and it's ready to be served, YUM! I'm always shy away from cooking brussels sprouts, I think I'll give this recipe a try with kale.

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  4. I love Brussels sprouts! This soup sounds fantastic. I must have missed your mention of the almond milk yogurt. I LOVE yogurt, just the plain (or Greek style). No sugared up yuck. I grew up with my great-grandmother making homemade yogurt so it always reminds me of her.

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  5. Oraphan,

    Kale would be a great substitution and very healthy. Great idea! Thanks for mentioning it.

    Heather,

    I used to love yogurt too. My hubby and I previously ate non-fat Greek yogurt for breakfast every morning with fiber one, fruit and nuts. We would make yogurt every weekend to hold us for the week. Needless to say I miss it too! I am going to have some of the almond milk yogurt for lunch. I will let you know how it turned out.

    Alicia

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  6. Thanks for the article link, quite interesting. We go through ridiculous amounts of onions, garlic, kale and brussels sprouts at our house, good to know we are on the right track. Looking forward to your yogurt results:)

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  7. Janet,

    I am always reading this sort of thing, as you are. It is nice to know what we are doing may be helping. The raw factor threw me off a little. Now I have amunition for "eat your kale chips". ;)

    The almond milk yogurt and fruit will be my lunch. Assuming it did what I wanted in the frig overnight. Otherwise I will starting another almond milk yogurt experiment later today. I already have the amonds soaking for milk.

    talk to you later,
    Alicia

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  8. Alicia, we have always added raw onions, chives, and garlic to our salads and use raw kale in our smoothies most days, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I learned you could eat brussels sprouts raw.( Isn't that crazy! I don't know why I thought you had to cook them.) One of my clients told me about making a salad with them and I had an AHA moment- use them like cabbage since they are in the same family.
    One of my favorite salads has some of the same flavors as your soup (we are both lemon freaks;) I will try and post the recipe later today.

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  9. Janet,

    I have difficultly getting raw onion into my hubby. He doesn't like the intensity of flavor. But he will eat it when I dehydrate it so I guess I shouldn't complain. He is more compliant than most husbands when it comes to healthy food.

    Can't wait to see your brussels sprout salad. I am always looking for new ways to use them. If it has lemon I know I will like it. ;)

    Alicia

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  10. Matt,

    You really do! When I said I use mine more than my stove I wasn't kidding. That machine gets a workout at our house. Can you believe it will take raw brussels sprouts, cashews and a little water and turn it into a creamy soup? Great machine! I know you will love it when you get one.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete

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