Healing Foods: Butternut Squash Soup and A Wakeup Call

Anyone who knows me knows that I decided to meet 50 with a vengeance. When my daughter suggested that there should be 50 celebrations of my birthday this year, I embraced it. Dining out, cooking elaborate dinners with friends, and toasting myself that I didn’t feel my age with over 36 celebrations so far this year. After a gastronomic trip through the French Alps this summer, and a month spent researching fried chicken around NYC for a comfort food chapter of a cookbook project—I realized that something was not right.

I have had high blood pressure, and been on medication, since my daughters were born prematurely as a result of preeclampsia. In my 30’s, and even into my 40’s, I let the medication manage my blood pressure while I lived my life with gusto—enjoying food and wine with occasional exercise thrown in. At 50, my erratic blood pressure got to levels so high that I knew that I needed help.

My doctor and my cardiologist have both told me very firmly that I need to lose at least 25 pounds, and cut out sugar, fried foods and salt. I also needed to start moving, and managing my stress in a much more consistent way. I know they are right—I can feel it.

I have accepted the challenge to still try to cook things that are satisfying without butterfat, salt, and the usual doses of sugar, cream and chocolate that are staples in my cooking. I also wanted to make sure that the whole family came along on the journey and didn’t feel deprived.

On Sunday, we made a butternut squash soup that has made me very hopeful that this will work. It is loaded with beta-carotene, potassium, vitamin C and fiber, and when pureed into a soup, makes a creamy, satisfying bowl of goodness that is completely dairy free. And its easy—25 minutes from stove to table.

This recipe is going out to help others get inspired to cook delicious and healthy foods. Especially my dear friend who reminded me the other evening that living our lives to the fullest with our children is the best gift we can give ourselves—and them.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 tablespoon

1 large onion, chopped

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut and chopped into large dice (about 3 cups)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (or 1 heaping teaspoon dried, rubbed sage)

1 quart unsalted chicken stock (Kitchen Basics makes a great one)

Pepper to taste

In a soup pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion until translucent. Add butternut squash, sage and pepper. Stew for about 3 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil, the reduce to simmer for about 25 minutes until tender. Puree in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to pot and correct seasonings, adding more stock, pepper and sage as needed. Serve with a green salad and crusty French bread.

Healing Foods: Onion Soup, Green Juice and some TLC

My friend Nancy is going through chemo….again. She has been brave, stoic, and strong throughout. But the other day, when I ran into her, she looked bone tired. Concerned about how pale she was, I suggested she needed some green juice shots to give her a vitamin boost.

She came over on Saturday with my friend Marilyn, and we made a green juice for her. Kale, spinach, carrot and pear juice to cleanse the liver, eliminate toxins, and infuse the blood with vitamins A,K, C folate, and magnesium. The pear and carrot are a sweet balance to the kale and spinach, and combined they pack a vitamin wallop. She liked the juice, and even took some home to drink the next morning for breakfast.

Sometimes during chemo, with a lessened appetite and not much taste for any kind of food, the best thing to eat is a hearty, comforting soup. Since I know Nancy loves onion soup, I decided to make some for her. It is nice to have a steaming bowl of comfort soup to help fortify your body and boost your spirits. And the onions are great for promoting heart health, to boot.

So for Nancy, I am offering this oh-so-easy onion soup recipe with a heaping dose of TLC….

Onion Soup

2 large onions, sliced thin

1 tbsp. margarine or olive oil

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp flour

I ½ cartons beef stock (Kitchen Basics is a rich, tasty broth that I prefer)

2-3 beef bouillon cubes

1 tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master (optional—but makes the broth richer)

Freshly grated gruyere/parmesan cheese toasts for garnish

In a large soup pot, heat oil. Add sliced onions and pepper and sauté for about 10 minutes until onions are soft. Add 1 tbsp. flour to onions and stir to coat. Add beef stock, bouillon cubes, and gravy master. Bring to a boil, reduce and let simmer 30 minutes.

Make cheese toasts by sprinkling cheese on baguette slices or sliced bread. Broil 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Ladle soup into bowl and top with cheese toast.

Nancy’s Green Juice

1 bunch kale

1 bunch spinach

1 large carrot

2 pears

Juice all ingredients together and serve.

Healing Foods: Carrot Ginger Soup and Carrot Ginger Juice and Remembering Glenn

A year ago at this time, my friends and I were in the full throes of cooking for our dear friend Glenn. Diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer in early March, Glenn hoped to beat the 3-15 month time left given by his doctors and stay here as long as possible to be with his partner and children.

I offered to be Glenn’s personal chef and nutritional coach, and assembled a team of our friends to help with research, cooking, shopping and food delivery. I bought a Breville juicer, and started making him freshly squeezed juices, soups and teas that would be comforting and nutrient dense during his first chemo treatments.

Glenn never lost his wicked and wonderful sense of humor during his illness. In an email to us on April 2, when three girlfriends got together to make him carrot and ginger soup and some other treats, he wrote “I cannot thank you all enough! I have an image of the three of you over a pot, chanting, circling, chanting, circling, spitting on the pot, burning sage and chanting up the boil in the pot, toss in left ear of a dead man, POOF! and then y'all toss heads back and cackle and howl with delight! All to make the perfect Carrot and Ginger soup! Well, that's the image I have, and I like it.” We loved that image, too, and when he took to calling us Catherine’s Coven after that, the name stuck.

The carrot ginger soup was a puree of carrots, a bit of sautéed onion, and some chopped ginger simmered in a rich chicken stock and pureed. The beta-carotene and vitamins in the carrots were fortifying, and the ginger helped to soothe digestion and stave off nausea. In the early days of cooking for Glenn, both the soup and carrot ginger juice were staples in his fridge, ready anytime he had a bit of an appetite or needed some soothing food. More than the food, Glenn enjoyed the love and community that came with our nutritional gift, and was bowled over by all the love, care and concern coming his way.

Sadly, Glenn lost his battle with cancer, but we all still think of him daily as we remember our journey together last year, and the amazing father, partner, friend and man that he was. To carry out his wish that I write a cookbook, I started a food blog, and continue to cook for others and share healing recipes for people going through illness.

I have also continued my food research, and continue to learn more about the healing and nutritional power of food. I have begun juicing in earnest, and love the energy packed shots of juice in various fruit and vegetable combinations throughout the day. The recipes for carrot ginger soup, and carrot ginger juice have become regular menu items in my family--both the soup and the juice are delicious, healthy, and comforting.

Carrot Ginger Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ chopped onion

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

5-7 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet, sauté onion and ginger. In a saucepan, put carrots and stock and simmer for 20 minutes until carrots are tender. Add onion/ginger mixture. Puree in batches in a food processor until smooth. Return to saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Carrot Ginger Juice

4-5 carrots

1 inch piece ginger

½ granny smith apple

Juice all ingredients together and serve!

A Pumpkin With a Purpose: Curried Pumpkin Soup

My daughter Sophie thought it would be a good idea to recycle our Halloween pumpkins this year. Of the 4 pumpkins that we picked on our apple and pumpkin picking excursions, only one was carved into a jack-o-lantern. After watching me struggle with a bevy of sharp, dangerous carving and x-acto knives to make the first one, Sophie suggested we draw faces on the rest. Phew.

When I suggested that by not cutting the pumpkins we could actually repurpose them after Halloween and make them into something delicious, she was all for it. We roasted the seeds with olive oil and salt (a big hit), and made pumpkin and sweet potato puree (not so big). With more than 6 cups of purée after cleaning, roasting and scraping the pumpkin from its skin (and throwing it into the food processor to mash), we had enough pumpkin to try a couple of experiments. Curried pumpkin soup was the big favorite—a creamy, spicy and warm bowl of goodness, and I am pleased my girls will eat something so healthful.

I have gone on before about the nutrient dense winter squashes (see sweet potato puree and butternut squash farfalle recipes) so I will be brief about the many health benefits. These beta carotene and vitamin rich foods help lower the risk of asthma, heart disease, arthritis, colon cancer and diabetes. In addition to all that has been mentioned before--we all have good reason to get more winter squashes into our meals.

So feel free to give your pumpkin an even better purpose than creating an eerie ambiance on Halloween. Cook it up and make some healthy and delicious fall foods!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons curry powder

3 ½ cups fresh pumpkin purée (or use canned pumpkin)

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 (14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup olive oil

Cook onions in butter in a wide 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, curry and cardamom and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in salt, red pepper flakes, pumpkin, water, broth, and coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. In batches, purée soup in a food processor or blender until smooth (be careful when blending hot liquids!), and return soup to pot. Keep soup warm over low heat. Correct seasonings and thin with additional chicken stock, if needed.

Healing Foods: Really Satisfying Chicken Soup with Orzo

My dear friend Gabs hasn’t had much of an appetite lately. Her chemo treatments have zapped her energy, and made food very unappealing. When I heard that from her—I knew it was time for a good chicken soup.

I am a firm believer in the healing (and magical) power of chicken soup. It is one of the most comforting, healing and nutrient dense foods when you are feeling poorly. I loved the smell of my mother’s chicken soup wafting from our kitchen when I was home sick from school. And our wonderful Salvadoran nanny makes a “sopa de pollo” that our daughters love to eat any time, any season—sick or healthy. It is just plain yummy.

The long list of healthy ingredients provides protein, beta-carotene, heart-healthy enzymes, vitamins A, C, potassium and magnesium (among others!) in one delicious bowl. And, whatever your family’s recipe---it is a universal comfort and healing food.

This is the recipe I made for Gabs that warmed her heart and helped build up her strength. Browning the chicken first on all sides helps to give a deeper, richer flavor to the broth, and all of the usual vegetables make it wonderfully satisfying. Try this the next time you need a comforting dish. It’s good for the immune system…and the soul.

Chicken Soup with Orzo

3 chicken legs and thighs

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 small zucchini diced

1 quart organic chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup dried orzo

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven until hot. Add chicken pieces, sauté about 5 minutes each side until browned. Add onions, celery, carrot and zucchini to the pot and allow them to cook/sweat for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove chicken pieces and separate meat from the bones and skin, and slice the chicken into small dice. Return chicken to pot along with ½ cup dried orzo. Bring to a boil again, then lower to a simmer for 5 more minutes. You may want to add more chicken stock if the soup is too thick for your liking. Serve hot.

Healing Foods: Chillin’ with More Cucumbers...and Some Avocado

I love how far and away a love of good food reaches. My lovely friend Miho lives in Australia. She is a consummate foodie, yogini, and an amazing woman who shares my love of eating and food. The recipe below comes from a friend of hers down under who blogs about food. So, to continue to “uncook” in this summer heat, I am adding Miho and her friend’s recipe for Chilled Out Cucumber and Avocado Soup.

Cucumbers, in addition to all that I said yesterday, help hydrate, are full of vitamin C, silica, potassium and magnesium. Adding the avocados increases your potassium and folate intake, which is great for heart health and helping to reduce the risks of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. And avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that aids in lowering cholesterol.

Added to the fact that this soup is refreshing, chilly, delicious and healthy (and you don’t need to turn on the stove!), it’s a perfect summer meal choice. Thank you, Miho!!

Chilled Out Cucumber and Avocado Soup


3 small avocados


1medium cucumber, seeded and peeled


Fistful of coriander


1/4 teaspoon cumin


Juice of one lemon or lime


2 cups of homemade chicken stock 


1 teaspoon sea salt


Spring onion/mint for garnish

In a blender place all of the ingredients on high until pureed
. If too thick add a bit more lime or lemon juice
. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until chilled
. Ladle into chilled soup bowls and add sea salt and pepper to taste
. Garnish with mint and spring onion.

Comfort Food: In Honor of My Amazing Father

May 19th is my father’s birthday. If he were still alive, he would be celebrating his 86^th year. Instead, I will be celebrating my father by making the soup that started me on my healing foods journey 16 years ago.

In late April 1994, my father was diagnosed with cancer that had lodged in his spine and had spread to other organs. He passed away on June 6, 1994, just weeks after being diagnosed. My father was a lover of family and food, and our family dinners--with menus both simple and and grand--are some of my best childhood memories--and were one of his greatest pleasures. He also loved gardening, and had a magnificent herb garden where he grew myriad herbs that he loved to use in our cooking.

It was so hard to watch this disease take over our father and invade our family so quickly. My brave father never complained about his illness, but we knew that he knew best how bad it was. He began to lose his appetite, and would wave away the trays of bland hospital food and Jell-O that were wheeled into his room. One afternoon, while cajoling him to drink a protein shake, I asked “Daddy, what would you like to eat?” He looked at me and said “your leek and potato soup.”

I inherited a love of food and cooking from my parents, and spent lots of time reading cookbooks, trying out new recipes on my family and studying the cuisines of every country I had the good fortune to travel to. A leek and potato soup that I learned to make from friends in France made its way into our family’s favorite things, and my father loved this soup garnished with fresh chervil or chives (or both!) from our herb garden served with a crusty baguette and butter.

I left the hospital that evening, stopped to buy the leeks and potatoes, and went out to the garden to gather the herbs he tended so lovingly. I brought him the soup, along with a few other of his favorite comfort foods, and he ate for the first time in a few days. The smile on his face when he tasted the creamy soup let me know that it was familiar and satisfying.

So tonight, I will make this soup for my family in honor of my wonderful Father. And I will toast the man who taught me so much about family, love, and the pleasure of good, comforting food. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Leek and Potato Soup

4 large Yukon Gold Potatoes

2 bunches leeks, washed scrubbed and cut to about 1 inch above the white part of the leeks

3 tablespoons butter

3 cups chicken stock

sea salt/freshly ground pepper

¼ cup chopped chives or chervil, or both

¼ cup heavy cream

Slice leeks into thin rounds. Saute in butter for about 5 minutes until transparent. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into medium dice. Add to the leeks and stir another 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, and make sure it covers the mixture. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through. In large bowl of food processor or blender, puree the soup in batches until smooth. Return to heat and add salt and pepper and cream. Adjust with additional cream, salt, pepper or stock to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chives/chervil. Serve with warm baguettes and creamy butter.