Souping: Juicing's Healthier Cousin?

Remember when juicing was life? You spent your mornings washing vegetables. Wondering how many apples you could use to make the greens a little more yummy. Sometimes you would plunk down the ten dollars to get your cold pressed fix since you didn’t have the time to make your own. Ready to meet juicing’s cousin, souping?

It’ll leave you satisfied longer. Give you the fiber you need. Plus, you’re not adding tons of sugar to your diet from all the fruit used to make greens easier to drink. Some people go the

juicing route for a cleanse, but it’s only a short term fix. Souping can be part of a regularly detoxing way of life. 

I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by the souping concept. When I think of soup, I think of the traditional American fare like chicken noodle. Or if it’s a family gathering, we’d have albondigas soup, spicy mexican meatball soup. Neither is something you’re having through a straw. So I opened up my mind to the concept of souping. What’s it all about?

I love juicing. There is nothing better than a fresh made cold pressed drink right at home. I did have a little guilt when I ended up throwing away so much pulp, and figured out other goodies to make with it. But still I was left with the thought, “Why am I working so hard to make a drink.” The more I learned about souping, I think this could be a new route for me.

Juicing gives you so many vitamins and minerals which are quickly absorbed by the body. It’s a great way to detoxify, but how much goodness are we missing out on by not having the roughage? Learning about slow cooking taught me how much vegetable skin is good for us. You’re throwing away nutrients by not having the vegetable skin. It’s the vicious cycle of juicing. 

It’s a lot of work. It’s not always satisfying. It’s wasteful when you’re throwing away vegetables because you missed a day or two of juicing. Don’t get me wrong, I love juicing. But like all things, let’s mix it up in moderation. 

Here are some more fun souping pros for you:

• Souping Is More Economical.
• Souping Retains The Fiber
• Souping Is Mentally Easier To Sustain
• Soups Are Veggie-Loaded
• Benefit Of A Wider Variety Of Herbs, Spices, And Broth
• Won’t Leave You Feeling Hungry
• More Textures Instead Of Only Sipping Your Meal
• Warming & Grounding According To Ayuverdaa

I hope I’ve piqued your curiosity. I take my health and well being seriously. I’ve definitely noticed a difference in my body, internally and externally since I’ve made a conscientious effort to treat my body well. But like all humans, we get stuck in our ways. Even with our foods when we’re being healthy. You should see me when I realized I ran out of raw coconut vinegar!

I told myself it’s okay. My usual health food store isn’t open, but I can run to my local supermarket. I’m going to try a new cleanse tomorrow. Now to decide between these two. What do you think? 

Beetroot Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Large Beetroot
• 1 Large Carrot
• 1 Potato
• 1 Onion
• 1 Can of Peas
• Small can of tomato paste
• 1/4 Cabbage Head
• 1/2 Lemon
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Salt, Pepper and other spices

Instructions:

Boil a pot of water and add chopped potato and bay leaves to it.

Meanwhile, spray a frying pan with a little bit of oil and add chopped onion to it. Once the onion turn yellowish add grated beetroot and carrot. Stew them for 15 minutes. 

In a separate bowl mix the tomato paste with 2 cups of hot water and add it to the frying pan after 15 minutes. Let it stew for additional 15 minutes. 

Chop the cabbage. Once you finish stewing the beetroots and carrots, add all the frying pan contents to the boiling pot, add the cabbage and the peas as well.

Add Lemon juice, 1 table spoon of sugar, salt, pepper and other spices of you choices. Let it cook for additional 10 minutes. 

Lentils Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of Lentils
• 1.5 Liters of Water
• 2 Tomatoes
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Onion
• 1/2 Lemon
• Salt, Pepper, Cumin and other spices

Instructions:

Boil a pot of water and add the lentils in. Meanwhile, spray a frying pan with a little bit of oil and add the chopped onion to it. Once the onion turn yellowish add grated carrots and chopped tomatoes. Stew them for few minutes.

Add all the frying pan contents to the boiling pot. Let it cook for about 40 minutes. Add salt, cumin, pepper and lemon juice. Use a blender to blend everything to a uniform puree soup.