Simplest Ever Immune Nourishing Soup
'Astragalus' is a fun word to say - A-strag-a-lus. Just as it is spelled.
It is one of my favourite herbs for immune health and nice for the adrenals too. Once you start looking you'll see you can get it at health food stores, Asian markets (for cheap!) and some grocery stores. The way I usually buy it is as a sliced root where it comes thin and a couple inches long - resembling wooden tongue dispensers.
Astragalus is part of a potent immune soup I learned about in my Chinese Medicine studies in ND school, the infamous "Change of Season Soup". This soup is incredible healthy but in the day-to-day of my life as a mom and business owner it doesn't get made.
You see I love simple and so when this soup combination came across my desk from John (creator of the Wildcraft board game) I smiled. I knew and loved all the ingredients, there was only four and in 20 minutes soup would be up - yah! The other reason I love this is that I can have all things ingredients in my home without them needing to be fresh: frozen jar of bone broth in the freezer, miso paste in the fridge (lasts a long while), and the dried astragalus.
For you the Astragalus may be the ingredient you have not bought before. Make a couple calls or check in at the health food store next time you are in. Once you have the Astragalus Root you are set as it can be stored for a long time.
OK, here's the details ...
You'll need:
2 cups broth (bone, meat, or veggie)
Astragalus (4-6 or so pieces - for this recipe the dried strips are better than getting powder)
Pinch of black pepper
1-3 tablespoons miso (comes in a paste - usually in fridge section)
Instructions:
Basically you combine everything but the miso in the pot (with a tight lid), simmering it all for 20 - 30 minutes. Then you strain the Astragalus pieces out and add miso to your taste preference. That's it. Time to enjoy your cuppa goodness. (-:
Bonus Fun Fact: Since Miso contains live active cultures you always want to add it at the end of any preparation as the high heat of boiling will decrease its goodness. xo
