Canasian Soup

Our Farmer's Market in Banff has begun and it is a really exciting time of year for me - not because I am selling food (I'm not, btw), but because I receive farm shares from local organic farms via Farm Box. Let me tell you - these are the best vegetables and fruits around. I instantly become inspired the second I fill my bags. I rush home to chop, blend, mince, massage, season and assemble them. With raw food, the quality of the ingredients is key, it makes all the difference in the world. It's easy to forget how amazing a carrot can taste when all you know is California carrots from a bag 9 months of the year.

Here is a really simple soup I whipped up, with some extra ingredients from T&T Asian market in Calgary.

Fresh Asian Broth Soup, errr Canasian soup?

Broth:
approx. ¼ cup braggs
1L filtered water
juice of one or 2 lemons
inch of thin fresh turmeric
½ inch of fresh ginger, thick
3 fresh kefir lime leaves
½ fresh garlic scape (farm box!)
splash rice vinegar
½ serrano chili
one small piece of star anise

Blend all in a vita mix on 10 first speed, bring to high speed for a few seconds, but not long. (if you have a normal blender, just blend for about 20-30 seconds)
Strain in fine mesh strainer over a big bowl. Discard the fibers in the strainer.

Add to bowl of broth:

about 1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage (farm box!)
long slices of fresh oyster mushrooms (really nice meaty texture)
¼ red pepper, thinly sliced (farm box!)
a few stalks w/ leaves of cilantro, roughly chopped (farm box!)
a few stalks w/ leaves of pea shoots (farm box!)
1 carrot, thinly sliced (farm box!)
a handful of broccoli florets, chopped small (farm box!)
a few small radishes, thinly sliced (farm box!)

Garnish with a few cashews

If you plan on having this over a few days it’s best to keep the veg and broth separate and add them together just before consuming.

Sorry I didn't take any mouth-watering photos, I actually only took this one crappy photo with my phone. These are the harsh realities when you make something an hour before you have to be at work. Still, there aren't even cashews in this photo, how embarrassing.

Here are some photos of other things I've made recently, to make up for only having one soup photo.

This is a fresh organic corn polenta topped with BC cherry salsa

A marinated mushroom tart with dill kale pesto and fresh market tomatoes. Almond pastry.

Even cross-eyed Eddie is enjoying the fine summer greenery. That guy sure knows his way around a patch of grass.

Cheers to Asian Soup and Asian Cats, in Canada.