When mornings are cold and grey, who wants a smoothie for the first meal of the day? Not me. And often people don’t have the luxury of time to cook up a hot nourishing breakfast.
A few years ago I was traveling in China and found myself waking in a very primitive mountain monastery where a warm brothy bowl of greens and various delicious root vegetables was served for breakfast. I had experienced this before in other parts of Asia and India, but this time the idea of soup for breakfast just made sense!
In many ways soup might be the perfect breakfast.
Soup can be as heavy or light as you wish – brothy, chunky or creamy – and is so nourishing. Soup goes down easy. Soup is highly adaptable to seasonal eating and personal preferences. And it can keep for days, ready to be warmed up.
Think you’ll miss the sweets and carbs for breakfast? Try a blended soup made with sweet butternut squash; add some noodles or rice.
Need the extra boost to your vegetables servings for the day? You got it! An early Spring soup to try could be this Green Soup from the book Love Soup by Anna Thomas. It’s delicious and like drinking pure vitality.
Want to make sure you start the day with enough protein? Easily done with your choice of protein – from vegan to creature. Use a rich bone broth for added collagen protein and amino acids or this mineral-rich vegan broth from Rebecca Katz.
Make soup on a Sunday for the week or use a slow-cooker overnight and be greeted in the morning with a warm nourishing treat to start your day. Or try making any number of quick soups using a formula like this guide from the New York Times .
Stay as close as you can to real whole-food ingredients and you can’t go wrong in nourishing your body with soup for breakfast – or anytime. My personal favorite soup for breakfast is White Miso Soup with Ginger and Bok Choy.
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This recipe is very adaptable – you might prefer more or less garlic or ginger or another green. Be sure to adjust the cooking time i.e. spinach a little less time, kale a little more. You can add in any other chopped vegetables at hand – carrots, celery, daikon radish or turnips work well. It is hard to go wrong!
~ from FoodWisdomNutrition.com
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- 1 medium onion sliced thinly and cut into quarters
- 1 - 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, depending on how spicy you prefer cut into short matchsticks
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 cup sliced shitake mushroom caps
- 3 cups or more of roughly chopped Bok Choy or other leafy green
- 4 cups of water
- 1 cup of hot water to dissolve the Miso paste
- 4 Tbs. white miso paste
- In a soup pot over medium heat sauté the onion for about 3 minutes, then add the fresh ginger and stir. Continue cooking for another minute or so, stirring occasionally until the mixture is fragrant.
- Add in the shitakes and minced garlic and cook for a few minutes, stirring to prevent the garlic from burning. When the shitakes are softened and somewhat tender, turn up the heat slightly and stir in the Bok Choy for a minute or until it begins to soften. Add the 4 cups of water, letting it come to a low boil, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, dissolve the miso paste in 1 cup of hot water, stirring until it is evenly mixed. When the soup has finished cooking stir in the dissolved miso and turn off the heat.