Leafy Greens & Coconut Milk Soup :: Clean Eating

The new year is a great time to recover from holiday indulgences. Personally, I'm so over food and drinks just now. Instead,  I'm craving clean eating foods that I know will work through my system quickly and provide me with energy. (I've been counterbalancing bourbon with green juice for a week!) Craving fuel, January 1 is when I typically make a shopping list and stock up on frozen cut fruit for smoothies, bunches of leafy, winter greens and make sure I have some lean proteins available for adding to meals.  

Here, the good fats found in coconut milk satiate and homemade beef stock provides a calcium and phosphorous dense broth full of minerals providing a base for the Leafy Greens & Coconut Milk Soup. I fill a large, shallow bowl with torn spinach leaves, a handful of mixed herbs (whole cilantro, basil and mint are delicious and invigorating) and some finely chopped green onions. Add thinly sliced jalapeño for spice - they're especially great when you're fighting a cold as the capsaicin from the seeds (the compound that creates the spiciness) thins mucus and helps to open up your nasal passages.

Pour hot broth directly over the greens - the heat cooks the greens, allowing the soup to come together in minutes. Keep the pantry filled with at least one can of coconut milk (look for a pure brand that avoids adding carageen - a seaweed derivative that is thought to be an allergen) and keep a container of stock frozen in the freezer, for easy meal-making.

Leafy Greens & Coconut Milk Soup 2 parts bone broth :: 1 part coconut milk

Place broth and coconut milk into a small saucepan and heat to boiling. Meanwhile, fill a large, shallow bowl with greens, as above. When broth is at a low boil, pour over the veg and serve immediately.

For bone broth, check out this recipe for beef pho from Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen. For a simple chicken bone broth made at home in a slow cooker, here's a goodie from the ever-healthful Nourished Kitchen.