Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Clean Green Soup


Thank you so much for your interest in the cleanse. (Maybe I should have started this post “Dear Sirs.”) I won’t go on at length about the details of it, because if you’re going to follow one in an orthodox way, you should probably check a book out of the library or sign up with a website or something. But I will explain my interest, in part to dispel any misconceptions about what I think a cleanse is or can do. For me, the idea is not really to detox in some magical way, whereby, thanks to a few days of snorting cayenne or whatever, my cells release all their ancient heavy-metal alchemy experiments and my colon suddenly disgorges piles of decades-old shit it’s been hoarding in its nooks and crannies. No. It’s more about resetting my baselines with regards to my many dietary passions, which include, but are not limited to, bread and cheese, buttered toast, coffee with half and half, chips and crackers, pizza, cheese without bread, and alcohol in all its many lovely forms. I love these foods passionately and do not wish to permanently stop consuming them. But come the end of December, I need to take a break so that, later, I can really appreciate one glass of pinot noir and two lovely pieces cheese, rather than drinking the whole barrel and eating the entire wheel and then scrounging around for more. And also my horrible old-lady acne, and how it goes completely away while I’m eating like this. And also energy, which I enjoy buckets of. Sigh.


Thee years in, though, I have a few tips to share:
  •       Coconut cream (the kind you buy in a can at Trader Joe’s) actually does a decent job of lightening your horrible not-coffee drinks, such as Tee-cino or Roastaroma. Decant the can into a mason jar, and keep it in the fridge.
  •       Have on hand an exciting little snack that you love (this year it is Trader Joe’s Truffle Marcona Almonds) and a little something lovely that you can pour an inch of into a wine glass at the end of the day (Red Jacket Tart Cherry Stomp from—prepare to cash out your retirement fund—Whole Foods).
  •      Pan-fried chickpeas make salads, and life, way more festive.
  •      Raw cashews are your friend, especially if you soak them. I’ve made, like, a million versions of this "cheese", served it with these crackers, and have been completely satisfied.
  •      A little square of dark chocolate never killed a person. 

Look, it’s not for everyone. As Ben put it, “I think the only cleanse I could really handle would be designed by the good folks at Frito-Lay.” And I know you know this, but if this is all driving you crazy, click on the recipe index and find one of the many molten-cheese or molten-pork recipes that are lying around here. There are plenty, I promise.


Clean Green Soup
Serves 1

I wanted to call this “Smooth Green Soup,” to alert you to the fact that it’s really a smoothie masquerading as soup, but then it sounded too much like what my kids used to call, with respect to prunes and bran cereal, a “pooping food.” It is surprisingly savory and rich and delicious and, whether or not the energy comes from my head and what it thinks this food is doing for me, the energy comes. I really don’t presume you have sauerkraut lying around, but oh, if you do, it’s so good in here. I bet that other pickled things would be good too, but I haven’t tried. And if you’re eating dairy, a little spoonful of plain yogurt would be a lovely garnish.

1 cup newly boiled water
1 tablespoon mellow miso
¼ cup sauerkraut or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 smallish handful each: spinach, arugula, chopped kale (3 handfuls of one type is fine; watercress would be great too)
2 tablespoons almonds, soaked in water for a couple of hours or overnight
½ an avocado
1 small, leafy celery stalk, chopped
1 garlic clove
Salt to taste


Put everything in your blender and blend until blended. (That is such a terrifically terrible sentence that I’m leaving it.) But I do mean really, really blended. Taste and add more salt if it needs it.

18 comments:

  1. How refreshing to see a green recipe that isn't cold. I don't mind the occasional smoothie but I can't drink my greens every day like that. I don't do an annual 'cleanse' but I did an elimination diet from paleo to AIP and the reintroduced certain foods. Life changing for me (health reasons, not weight related). Happy new Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. No sauerkraut ... that's funny because we bought some sauerkraut either from Costco or Amazon recently and we have CANS of it around our house. CANS. We have enough to last until the end of this century probably. So, yes, I'll add the sauerkraut. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sunski1:31 PM

    Thanks for sharing. I do my cleanse for exactly the same reason - as sort of a reset on my own expectations. But I like to do mine after labor day. Our routines change with back to school. It's harvest season. And it's easier to give up the beer when it's not "summer" (oh but how I love autumn). I'm saving this recipe for then!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sign me up for Ben's Cleanse! lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds hideous. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was just hear to get this recipe, and this old comment made me LOL.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:31 AM

    Resetting baselines is a good way of putting it! I like that concept. The mental cleanse.

    Blend until splendidly blended...

    Angela

    ReplyDelete
  7. My favorite clean smooth green soup recipe comes from Chop Chop mag a few years back-- just leave out tomatoes. Tastes surprisingly cheesy with zero cheese! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156500155776730012/

    ReplyDelete
  8. JoeMama12:20 PM

    Thank you (Catherine, Angela and others!) for sharing your approach. It resonates a lot better with me because the science doesn't seem to support the notion of a cellular detox. Common sense about re-setting one's habits for moderation is a better approach. It's like Lent, which I never learned to observe. (BTW, I am on day 4 and am feeling good. Maybe it is all the coconut cream in my morning smoothies.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just a shout-out for the Tart Cherry Stomp--Red Jacket Orchards is a great little family-run business from my hometown in the beautiful Finger Lakes of NY. It's been so cool to watch them grow from a farmstand into a big success.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Catherine, I can't remember if you are a cilantro hater or lover; if you like it I'd heartily recommend the soup from here: http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2015/01/a-winter-weekend-cleanse/ (I use the Japanese sweet potatoes that are white inside so they don't muddy the bright green color, but regular orange ones are just as tasty!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. annette9:13 AM

    Yes, "resetting" is apt. After a week or so, the pure carbs are hopefully so much less compelling than a carrot! A good miso soup fits nicely into the routine (unless you are off soy). Also hot water with lemon juice, ginger, turmeric, dash of cayenne is a good waker-upper. Thanks for the reminder...

    ReplyDelete
  12. I could definitely do that soup. Throw in some cilantro and switch the lemon for lime and it would be like drinkable guacamole. Which sounds like a dream come true.

    ReplyDelete
  13. BethY1:08 PM

    While I should be doing something similar to your detox, I'm not, I'm making your granola. Sort of because I've tweaked the recipe a bit, but I ALWAYS sniff the wooden spoon first in case it smells like garlic.

    Are you on Instagram? Because I think it needs more pictures of dirty blenders and usually you are the Queen of captions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Instagram!! You could brighten all our days so quickly!!!

      Delete
  14. Juices shouldn’t leave you feeling hungry – when consumed as part of a sensible plan, they provide all of the goodness and nutrients for whatever task may be at hand. I love this. Thanks for the recipe ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Am eating this right now and am happy to report that it is quite an elegant (if virtuous) lunch!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Clean Green Soup!! It sounds so delicious and healthy as well. You know dear use green veggies in my Green smoothie. I take the healthy Green supplements too whenever I don’t get time for making my smoothie. Anyway I would love to try your Green Soup!!

    ReplyDelete