Fall Reset Soup
A post-holiday antidote, for when your gut says “I give up”
Every single one of my four books has a soup in it that I like to trot out the week that follows Thanksgiving.
It is usually the time I’m most in need of a reset, and also the time I’m most resistant to eating a salad.
In my first book (the 20-something ramshackle kitchen one), it was the Green Detox Soup that my mom used to make growing up. It took me until adult life to get on board, so I knew it might be similarly off-putting to all munches in the mix over here. (Though fun fact: I used to put it in my daughter’s popsicle molds before she knew that was weird! And she loved it!).
In my second book (the autoimmune one), it was Desperation Soup, which spoke to the conundrum of having either too little, or sometimes, too much (random shit) in your fridge, but it also doubled as a recipe that you could use when your body issued a (desperate) cry for help.
In my third book (the gut health one), it was Orange Remedy Soup, a delightful mix of ginger, turmeric, carrots and parsnips, pureed into an easy-to-digest, naturally sweet, warm hug of a soup.
The one I’m sharing with you today is from my latest (the carb one!). Fall Reset Soup is perhaps the perfect amalgamation of all these other soups—with lots of elements (like the color orange) that both your gut, and potentially…hopefully, your child will love too.
Feeding kids soup can be a little bit of a Goldilocks experiment.
Thick pureed soups can feel a little too much like baby food, but most chunky soups are brothy, which my child has found impossible to navigate. And if they are just fishing out the little pieces of pasta, what is the point of making soup anyway?
This reset soup has the flavor profile of my orange soup, but keeps the carrots and parsnips whole, cut into small pieces, along with broccoli. Turmeric gives it a gorgeous orange color, and canned pumpkin plus quinoa (or rice) thickens the base into something that might actually stay on your toddler’s spoon.
It’s a blue plate special in a bowl for times when you need a low lift family dinner that everyone will eat, but that also feels healthy.
And thanks to the anti-inflammatory turmeric and ginger, it’s an ancillary to all the cold remedies I mentioned in this post, plus the soup only gets tastier after a day or two in the fridge (and freezes well).
Are you excited to try it yet? I hope so!
Happy holidays from my family to yours, and happy happy munching!
Phoebe
Turmeric-Pumpkin Fall Reset Soup
Makes 6 appetizer servings
I started creating these “reset soups” as a solution for days when your gut needs a little downtime. This version has lots of finely chopped vegetables (carrots, parsnips, broccoli) and hearty quinoa, cooked until soft and easier to assimilate. There’s no garlic or onion, but you are welcome to add them along with hot sauce or red pepper flakes if your gut (or munch) can handle it.
You can also swap in any fall veggies you like—turnips and butternut squash work well—and frozen chopped kale or leafy greens can stand in for the broccoli. Finally, toss in some shredded rotisserie chicken or chickpeas if you want more protein.
