star soup for the soul 🥣😌
Welcome to those who were just scanning the web and serendipitously landed on my humble site 👋 whether you are in a rut and don’t know what to make; are in that loop of “sooo, what do you want to eat tonight?”; or have fallen into the infinite black hole of saved recipes from social media (the internet is truly ultimate purveyor of maximalist TL;DR content overwhelm 😵💫🫠🤭). I hope you enjoy — it brings me great joy to sprinkle any ease into your life — cheers to your good health, good love & good fortune!
And per my usual caveat, I do not claim to be a doctor or a chef. I do not dream of being a fancy food blogger. I’m just a gal who enjoys living and eating for optimum well-being. I like to creatively alter, and occasionally create, recipes to make them as balanced as possible, in both taste and health. I’ve come to learn soul-food and body-fueling food are both real and equally important, hence the critical importance and beauty of mind-body-soul eating! ✨ I typically like to begin with a key ingredient or two that I’m hoping to work with, search for a preexisting recipe as a guide, then play with measurements and make swaps to level up nutrient density. Consider this a destination for healthy recipe inspiration, where you’ll never have to scroll through any continuously re-populating ads. One of my primary goals is to add a little simplicity in places I’ve found murky.
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My mom really was a fantastic cook while I was growing up, but wow — I feel like this is the soup I had no idea my childhood, and even my young adulthood, was truly missing — it is the simplest, quintessentially most comforting, veggie filled soup of all time. Given I was not a chicken soup lover growing up (and to be honest, am still not aside from the epic Athena Calderone’s in Cook Beautiful), this veggie star soup, aka pastina soup or “Italian penicillin,” as Sherri Davidson of The Tasteful Blonde refers to it, is the soup my soul craves when comfort is needed. My minimally zhuzhed iteration of this soup is pulled from Miss Davidson’s Instagram — her recipe is virtually perfect, my primary call outs are simply swapping in gluten free pasta and making it potentially even more accessible 🤓👩🍳
INGREDIENTS
14 -28 fl oz organic pasture raised chicken bone broth*
2- 4 c filtered water to submerge veggies**
1 organic yellow onion
4 large organic carrots
4-6 large organic celery stalks
6 organic garlic cloves
salt or optional vege-sal to taste
organic black or red pepper flakes to taste
1 box Jovial Organic Gluten Free Brown Rice Stelline — or alt brand, this is just the only one I’ve found that’s gluten free and with limited ingredients
*I love the bone broths from FOND - the turmeric and black pepper one is simply divine and a provides a perfect bonus immune boost when in need!
**Cut back on the water if using 2 jars of bone broth.
ADT’L NOTE: When it’s cozy star soup night, I really attempt to just use what I have in the cupboard/fridge, so sometimes the broth will be more vibrant than others, but it is always delicious and nutrient dense without fail — the soup truly is virtually fool proof!
OPTIONAL FOR SERVING
Top with extra virgin olive oil
Optional fresh grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pour bone broth and water into a large pot.
2. Add whole cleaned onion, peeled and halved carrots, washed celery and garlic cloves to pot.
3. Bring put to a rapid boil for 20 - 30 minutes or until the veggies are nice and tender.
4. While waiting on the veggies, cook the Stelline separately per the box instructions.
5. Once tender, scoop out the vegetables from the stock pot with a slotted spoon and place directly into a blender or food processor.
6. Add about 3 ladles of bone broth to the blender and process until smooth.
7. Poor blended contents back into the stock pot and stir to combine.
8a. If feeling fancy, serve in a bowl with your Stelline, ladling the blended veggie broth over the pasta, topping with olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
8b. Alternatively, cooked pasta that’s been lightly coated in olive oil can be added directly to the stock put and combined in one fell swoop — the consistency will just be become a bit thicker, especially as a leftover — think gourmet spaghetti o’s — and then bowls can all be individually topped with desired toppings 😋
CLICK PHOTO ON FAR RIGHT TO SEE ADDITIONAL IMAGES >
As with everything I make, I love to know the ingredients will fuel not only a beautiful plate, but a beautiful feeling inside. The goal truly is to eat to live, not to live to eat — no matter how incredible something taste’s, it’s also about how it tastes to our minds, bodies and souls that will keep that “deliciousness” with us long past the moment of actual consumption. I will again caveat, I’m not a nutritionist, but as holistic health coach I can confidently reaffirm —
1. The quality of our ingredients is essential!
2. Remember, less is more.
3. Think loving thoughts as you cook and your food will taste better! #truth
4. Always shop organic and in season whenever possible.
Cheers to your good health! XO
