However, I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to radically overall your entire life overnight. I didn’t want to overwhelm everyone by spouting out fifty different things they needed to change about their diet and lifestyle. Instead, I started the opening night with making just one single recommendation….
Combat the #1 Biggest Diet Mistake with a Bowl of Coconut Curry Soup
The number one biggest diet mistake people make is not eating anywhere close to the optimal amount of fruits and vegetables. Whether your goal is to lose weight, reduce inflammation, increase energy, improve heart health, control blood sugar, reduce cancer risk or improve just about any other major biomarker of health, dramatically increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables is the easiest, least painful and most effective way to achieve the goal. And yes, as long as you are eating “whole” fruit and not fruit juice, you can lose weight and balance blood sugar levels. Note: You can watch the interview I did with WPBF discussing the BetterU Challenge and the challenge to eat more fruits and vegetables HERE. But of course I also realize eating more fruits and vegetables is easier said than done. And that’s where the Coconut Curry Soup fits in… One of my top five secrets to eating healthy produce-rich meals is to always have a big pot of a delicious vegetable soup in my fridge at all times. Trust me, if you have a ready-made soup that also tastes good you will definitely eat it! Each serving of the Coconut Curry Soup offers a hefty dose of fruits and vegetables from apples, leeks and cauliflower. It’s also loaded with anti-inflammatory and detoxifying turmeric (from the curry powder) and ginger.My Favorite Curry Powder
By the way, my absolute favorite curry is Organic Curry Powder by Spice Society (see photo left).
To date, the Spice Society offers the finest non-gmo spices I have yet to discover. However, they don’t seem to be readily available everywhere in the country just yet. If you can’t locate Spice Society, you can’t go wrong with Simply Organic Curry Powder.
A Creamy Soup-Making Essential Gadget
Whether it’s the Creamy Coconut Curry Soup with Cauliflower recipe below, Tomato Soup or Carrot-Apple Soup, I’m crazy about pureed vegetable soups. Although I love my Vitamix for smoothies, sauces, dips and umpteen other recipes, when it comes to making creamy soups, I find a handheld stick blender to be the best tool. It’s really an indispensable kitchen gadget for me. I love the Conair Cuisinart (see photo left), which is available for much cheaper on Amazon. Regularly $75.00!Kitchen Favorites
Creamy Coconut Curry Soup with Cauliflower
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons organic (extra virgin coconut oil (Barlean’s is really the only brand I recommend))
- 1 cup chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and thoroughly washed)
- 1 head cauliflower (broken into florets)
- 1 Granny Smith apple (chopped, skins on)
- 1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro (optional (see notes below))
- 2 1/2 tablespoons organic curry powder (my favorite curry powder is by Spice Society, but if you can’t find that brand, the Simply Organic is also very good)
- 1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 can (14 ounces coconut milk “cream” skimmed from the top of a can of coconut milk (see notes below))
- 4 1/2 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Pacific Naturals)
- Juice from 2 limes
- Optional Garnishes: Pumpkin Seeds and / or Clean Cuisine Sour Cream
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil over medium-low heat in a medium sized saucepan. Add the leeks, cauliflower, apple, ginger and cilantro (optional); saute for about 5 minutes, or until the leeks and cauliflower just begin to soften. Add the curry powder teaspoon and salt, and stir to combine.
- Pour in the coconut cream and vegetable broth, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover partially, and cook until the cauliflower is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Squeeze in the lime juice. Use a handheld stick blender and process until smooth and creamy. Serve warm or cold. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and / or Clean Cuisine Sour Cream.
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Notes
Cilantro: Adding the cilantro doesn’t radically change the overall flavor profile of the Coconut Curry Soup, but it does alter the color. To get a beautiful and vibrant soup color, like the one shown in the photos above, you will want to eliminate the cilantro. Why do I even add cilantro in the first place? The main reason is because cilantro has incredible health benefits, including toxic metal cleansing, strong antioxidant activity, blood-sugar lowering benefits and much more. But again, if appearance is what you are after with your soup, it is best to nix the cilantro.
Coconut “Cream”: This is the thick, rich and non-watery part of canned coconut milk. To get the “cream” you need to refrigerate your coconut milk for 5 or 6 hours or pop it in the freezer for at least an hour. Once the coconut milk is cold, carefully remove the top with a can opener and use a spoon to scoop out the hardened coconut “cream” off the top. The “cream” is what you will be using for the Curry Soup Recipe. You can reserve the liquid water for other smoothies.
stephanie
Thursday 21st of January 2016
Sounds delicious! Pinned it for later and can't wait to try! Just one thing, I think the first step in the instructions should be "heat the coconut oil" not "coconut milk"
Ivy Larson
Friday 22nd of January 2016
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for catching that Stephanie =) And thank you for pinning too!