DeTox Soup

Known as Indian comfort food, this spicy stew is perfect for the transition from winter to summer because it supports healing and cleansing. Called kitchari in Ayruvedic medicine, the traditional blend of rice and easy-to-digest split mung beans, works better than many current detox programs because it keeps blood sugars stable.

Many juice fasts aggravate unstable blood sugars by failing to provide adequate proteins and allowing glucose to enter the bloodstream unrepressed. The result is irritability, moodiness, headaches, shakiness, and brain fog.

But our DeTox Soup provides a wide array of essential amino acids and is delicious to boot! One batch makes enough for several meals. You can whip it up quickly using a pressure cooker, or set it in the crock pot and come back hours later to a ready meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. split yellow mung beans (available in Asian store or online)
• 1/2 c. basmati rice
• 4 c. water
• 4 c. bone broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tb. grated ginger root
• 1 tsp. each cumin, fennel and coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• unsweetened coconut flakes
• fresh cilantro

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. For pressure cooking, process 15 minutes. For crock cooking, simmer for 8 hours. Remove bay leaf. Salt to taste. Garnish with coconut and cilantro.

Note: Optionally, you can add seasonal vegetables and a little lean meat. If you are not de-toxing but using this as a supportive part of you meal plan, add some ghee or coconut oil when you salt it at the end of cooking. To make sure the mung beans do not cause gas, you can add a pinch of asafetida, also available at Asian stores.