Dark Leafy Greens Soup

Dark leafy greens are rich sources of minerals and nourish the blood. Chlorophyll, the green colour, is literally “plant blood.” It is a similar molecule as hemoglobin without the iron (it is an amino acid rather than a protein and is a sulphur ring rather than an iron ring). A dark green is considered dark when its colour is darker than spinach, and will often have a purple tinge. Besides nourishing blood they tend to help cleanse the liver.

My Green Slime Soup is a great way to get your daily greens in a simple, tasty (in spite of the name), easy to make, one daily dose. Making GSS takes less than 25 minutes from start to finish, and you get 10 days worth of greens.

Use 5 bunches of greens, any from the list below:

– Spinach

– Kale (any kind, regular, dino, Russian)

– Chard (any type)

– Collard greens

– Beet greens

– Broccoli (though it is not officially a green)

– Dandelion greens (put these in first)

Use 1-2 bunches of herbs such as dill, cilantro, parsley.

Dried herbs to taste (sage, thyme, rosemary, etc.)

Rinse the greens and herbs, cut off the roots, and cut (fairly rough, you do not need to make small pieces). Do not remove the stems of any of the greens.

Boil 3 litters of water.

In a large pot, stir-fry, in a little butter or oil, 4 chopped cloves of garlic and a little ginger.

Add the greens, and pour the boiling water in. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Turn heat off, and add 2-3 spoons of miso paste.

Liquefy with a hand-held blender (these are a great investment, they cost around $25 – you insert the rotating blade part into the pot and liquefy – no pouring, no extra washing).

This will give you 9-10 bowls. Keep only 3 days’ worth in the fridge, and freeze the rest, defrosting 3 days’ worth at a time.

Variations:

In the winter you can thicken the soup a little by adding leaks, grated carrots, squash and even a potato to the stir-fry stage.

Dandelion greens are considered the “king” of dark leafy greens, and a great liver cleanser. Most people prefer to cook them a little longer than other greens, so you can add them to the stir-fry first (with a little water) and then add the other greens.

Using Seaweed. Seaweed is the ultimate green, rich in minerals. Any seaweed can be used. I recommend soaking it for 20 minutes (in the 3 litters of water) and then bring the water to a boil, adding the whole mixture to the soup. This is because seaweed tends to require soaking and slightly longer cooking time.

Serving ideas:

Some people like it cold. I am not one of those. To me, the cold soup feels like a green swamp (hence the name), while a warm cup or bowl is delicious.

One of my patients drinks GSS in the morning instead of her morning coffee. Personally, I find GSS to be a civilized afternoon or evening dish.

My favorite serving variations (with warm GSS) are adding any (or all):

– a teaspoon of nutritional yeast

– a teaspoon of crushed flax seeds

– a table spoon of sunflower seeds

– a table spoon of hemp seeds

-a dash of crushed sesame seeds (black or white)

Enjoy!