immunity boosting

Chicken soup for colds, flu and allergy season!

| herbalgeek

I love to make this soup whenever I feel a chill in the air or I am starting to feel that I am in need of some TLC. It is warm grounding medicine in a bowl. The chicken soup has healing herbs and spices to nourish your immunity to keep you healthy or support your healing if you are feeling under the weather.

If you are looking for information on some cold and flu remedies, please check out this post.

4-6 chicken thighs bone in with skin removed

Who doesn’t love an aromatic bowl of hot soup?

1 medium onion chopped

2 medium leeks chopped and thoroughly rinsed to remove all sand and grit

2-3 carrots chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

1 red pepper chopped

About 2” piece of fresh ginger finely minced

About 4 cloves of fresh garlic finely minced

6-8 sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 bunch each of Italian parsley, cilantro and dill (chopped including the stems!)

1-2 roasted hatch green chile chopped (it’s a New Mexico thing that is hard to replicate with any other type of chile pepper. You may be able to find canned hatch green chile in your market)

1 small to medium zucchini or yellow squash

4 bay leaves

6 slices of dried Astragulus root

1 Tbs turmeric

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp fennel

6 whole black pepper corns

6 Sichuan pepper corns

4+ star anise

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Tea kettle of boiling water

Preheat heavy bottomed stock pot over medium heat. Coat inside bottom of pot with olive oil. Add chopped onions and a pinch of salt. Stir and allow to cook until onions are translucent. Add leeks and another pinch of salt, stir and continue to cook until leeks start to wilt. Add chopped carrots, onions, celery, red bell pepper, another pinch of salt and allow to sauté for a few minutes. Add chopped garlic, ginger and shiitake mushrooms. Give a stir and allow to cook for another couple of minutes. Add bay leaves and other herbs stir to coat the vegetable mixture and now add a tea kettle of boiling water. Place chicken pieces in stock and add parsley, cilantro, dill, hatch green chile and zucchini. Give the pot a good stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to simmer and put lid on pot and cook for about 30-45 minutes. Pull chicken from pot, allow to cool enough to handle so you can shred or chop and return to pot. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Note: remove bay leaves and Astragulus before serving.

Enjoy!

Mighty Mushroom Barley Soup

| herbalgeek

I love to make this soup on a chilly winter’s day or when I feel like I may be coming down with a cold. It has many immune boosting properties without over taxing your digestion so your body can combat whatever pathogens have entered your system, be it colds, flu or even allergies.

The spices used in this recipe do not just impart flavor, they have medicinal properties as well! 

Rosemary – tonic, stimulant, anti-depressant, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, anti-oxidant, diuretic. Caraway – carminative, expectorant. Cumin – diuretic, febrifuge, alterative. Onion and leek – antioxidant, anti-inflammatory. Fresh garlic – antibiotic, diaphoretic, expectorant, antioxidant, increases circulation, strengthens immunity. Shitake mushrooms – immune stimulant. Astragulus – adaptogen, immune stimulant, diuretic, antiviral tonic. Bay Leaves – bronchodilator. Turmeric – antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-viral, diuretic, hepatoprotective, immune stimulant. Black Pepper – antipyretic, decongestant, mild pain killer, anti-bacterial, antiseptic, detoxifying, diaphoretic. Barley – cooling thermal nature, light, diuretic.

Ingredients:

1 TBS Rosemary

1 TBS Caraway seeds

1 TBS Cumin seeds

Olive Oil

2 large onions chopped

9 large cloves of garlic chopped

2-3 cups of mushrooms, I used a combination of Shitake and white button mushrooms

6 pieces of Astragulus root

2 Bay leaves

2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 cup of Pearl Barley – rinsed and drained

50 oz. of boiling stock or boiling water

Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

Heat a heavy bottom stock pot over medium heat and gently toast the rosemary, caraway and cumin seeds. Once you begin to smell the spices releasing their fragrant oils, add just olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pot. Add chopped onions and a little salt to help the onions sweat out their liquid. Give a stir and cook until the onions become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about two minutes. Add the mushrooms and a little salt and fresh ground pepper and give everything a stir. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks to the bottoms of the pot. Add barley, bay leaves and turmeric powder ensuring that everything is well mixed together. Add stock or water and bring everything to a boil, reduce heat and cover with lid. Cook for about an hour or until the barley is cooked through. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Remove bay leaves and Astragulus before serving.

Bon Appetite & Be Well!

Greens – Greens – Greens!

| herbalgeek

Dark leafy greens, cabbages, broccoli, kale, dandelion greens, chard, spinach, mustard greens, collards, watercress, arugula just to name a few of the most popular.

These beautiful vegetables are packed with vitamin A, C, E and K, contain lots of fiber to help promote healthy intestinal flora, contain folic acid, chlorophyll and phyto-nutrients. So many benefits including blood purification and boosting immune function!

But can eating too much hurt you?

Spinach, chard and beet greens all have high levels of oxalic acid which depletes calcium from the bones and teeth. Eating large quantities can lead to osteoporosis. Kale contains goitrogens and can interfere with thyroid function. Large quantities are contra indicated for anyone with iodine deficiency. Kale also contains oxalate which can cause kidney stones. Spinach as mentioned above contain oxalate which may cause kidney stones and also contains purines, which if you have gout, consume in moderation. Broccoli also contains goitrogens and are reduced through the cooking process. If you have thyroid condition, you might want to consider reducing your consumption of raw cabbage family vegetables. 

If your diet consists mainly of green juices or eating many cups a day of these green raw  vegetables, maybe it may be time to re-evaluate this diet as you may be giving yourself thallium poisoning. Symptoms include: fatigue, brain fog, digestive troubles, nausea, and skin and hair issues. You may just think that you are cleansing your body of toxins and that is why you are feeling crappy. Actually your body is telling you to STOP! You are poisoning me!

But by cooking these vegetables it would be very hard to cause yourself harm, especially if you are eating a diet that is diverse and colorful. How many colors of the rainbow can you get onto your plate every day? Anytime a mono diet is introduced for an extended period of time there can be consequences to one’s health.

As with everything that we do, moderation is key and a meal serving size should be no more than two cups of cooked or raw food.