Edie Shaw-Ewald is a Registered Dietitian and Personal Trainer, and a regular contributor to the Bedford Beacon.

She coaches clients to use real and natural foods to achieve their healthiest body and mind.

She runs her own business called Nova Scotia’s Nutrition Coach:

Mike (my husband) made a declaration over a decade ago stipulating that when one of us walks in the door at the end of the work day we greet each other with a kiss. He is very strict about this rule. The kiss must happen before we start talking about the plans for the evening, what needs to be done for dinner or any minor frustrations of the day.

So we greet each other with a hug and a kiss, usually in the kitchen. Now, perhaps you do the smooch thing already…but if you don’t, I highly recommend it. Take a minute to pucker up, give your honey a good squeeze and look into each others eyes to remember why you are together.

Then you can start with the list of chores or complaints of how you have two teenage boys but neither have brought in the garbage cans from the curb…ahem…for example…

Now that we have started something beautiful, how about making this great soup starter…

I really dislike the taste of commercial broths and powdered bouillons – blech! They taste so tinny and fake and often have MSG in them. I try to make broth from our roasted chickens and stock from veggies to keep stored in our freezer, but these do take time and a lot of space in the freezer…so when I saw this “Soup Starter” recipe by Pam Corbin on the Culinate blog, I was pretty excited!

This is so easy and makes a delicious starting point for a nourishing pot of soup, stew or risotto.

Now don’t taste it and go all whiny on me: ”Its soooo salty, Edie.” I did cut the salt back by 75% from the original recipe. The salt is used as a preservative and flavour booster and it is meant to be a concentrated paste. I am keeping mine in the freezer.

SOUP STARTER

You will only use 1 – 2 tbsp per cup of hot water for the soup, stew or risotto.

(You can substitute or omit vegetables to suit your taste and what you have available. Great way to use up tired veggies!)

2-3 medium leeks, rinsed and chopped

3 celery stalks, rinsed and chopped

1 celery root, peeled and chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, peeled and diced

3-4 sun-dried tomatoes

3 peeled garlic cloves

1/4 cup kosher salt or sea salt

2-3 handfuls of parsley, washed and chopped

(You may have to puree this in batches and mix it all together in a large bowl at the end)

Throw the leeks, celery, celery root and carrots in the food processor and process until it is very finely chopped.

Add the onion, tomatoes and garlic. Process.

Add the salt and process until it is a moist, minced mixture.

Add the parsley and process until it is finely minced.

I recommend scooping out 1/4 cup portions onto a cookie sheet and freezing – then put into a freezer bag and store in freezer.

You can put some in a jar and store in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Add 1 – 2 tbsp per cup of water in place of a broth or stock in a soup, stew, or risotto recipe

You will love having this as a staple in your freezer…you can kiss me later…!

 

Source: http://www.bedfordbeacon.com/soup-starter-and-start-with-a-smooch