Hearty Fall Soup

As the weather turns cool and crisp, there isn’t much that’s more comforting on a chilly evening than a hot bowl of soup. Here is one of my favourite soup recipes rich with nourishing proteins, carbohydrates, good fats and lots of fiber and nutrients!

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized pot heat oil and sauté onion & mushrooms together over medium heat. Once caramelized, add lentils and split peas. Stir over medium heat for a minute.
2. Add water. Allow water to come to a boil and then lower heat. In the meantime, mix potato starch into cream.
3. In 40-50 minutes once the lentils have softened use a stick blender to puree ingredients.
4. Add spinach and cream mixture to pot stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Season to taste and enjoy!

Regular and Thick Cashew Cream (from “The Conscious Cook” cookbook)

1. Put the cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover them. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
2. Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water. Place them in a blender with enough fresh cold water to cover them by 1 inch. Blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. (If you’re not using a professional high-speed blender such as a Vita-Mix, which creates an ultra-smooth cream, strain the cashew cream through a fine-mesh sieve.)
3. To make thick cashew cream, simply reduce the amount of water when they are placed in the blender, so that the water just slightly covers the cashews.

Makes about 2 1/4 cups thick cream or 3 1/2 cups regular cream
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus soaking overnight.