How to Eat More Veggies (with Recipe!)

To a lot of you, the idea of eating a daily salad to up your veggie count is less than appealing.  This is especially true for those of you who are at the far other end of the "health spectrum,"--getting your veggies in the form of fried potatoes, ketchup and maybe the occasional iceberg lettuce.  I'm not here to judge, though.  I'm here to help and that is why I offer you another option for increasing your daily intake of vegetables:

Make a soup.

Yep, that's right.  Soup.  Soup is amazing because you can pack so much nutrition into it, season it to your preference and manipulate it anyway you want (in the form of a puree or chunky broth), all while getting in your veggies!  Pureed soups are probably the best for camouflaging the less desirable veggies but if you like all the ingredients going into your soup, experiment with a less uniform texture, ie. not a puree.  Think minestrone or chicken noodle!

With you I'd like to share by latest FAVORITE recipe, which was made my own but inspired by the Streaming Gourmet.  I encourage you to try this recipe out and let me know hoe you like it!  Please also leave comments as to how YOU get in your daily vegetables!  If you currently aren't eating enough veggies, I hope this post will inspire you to start...or at least make soup :)

Sage-Infused Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup*

Ingredients:

-  2 T. olive oil

-  1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

-  1 c. pumpkin puree

-  2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

-  1/4 c. fresh sage, chopped

-  4 cups water (or low sodium vegetable stock)

-  6 heaping T. almond milk

-  1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

-  2 tsp salt

-  Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Add the olive oil to a heavy-bottomed stock pot over low heat.  Add the onions and stir to coat with the olive oil. Sauté gently, stirring occasionally for 40-50 minutes. Make sure that onions to over-brown. If necessary, add a little bit of water or a touch of olive oil towards the end to slow down the browning process.

2. Add pumpkin, yams and chopped sage.  Stir to coat with caramelized onions. Increase heat to medium. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until yams and pumpkin pieces have softened and browned a little. Add water or stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. You can either blend all your ingredients in a blender or use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup.

4. Stir in the cream and add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Warm the soup over medium heat.

5. Ladle into bowls and garnish with one sage leaf and a few roasted pumpkin seeds.

*Recipe inspired by Amy at the "Streaming Gourmet"

With love, light and happiness,