Ayurvedic Sunshine Detox Soup

A hydrating, detoxing, mineral-rich soup recipe by Lorien from Wholesome Loving Goodness!

This post comes to us from FPAustralia contributor, Miann Scanlan!

Soup is a passionate topic of mine, and for good reason. On a tired and sluggish day, it has the ability pull my mind and body from fatigue and discomfort into inner sunshine and healing when nothing else has. It is light, a breath of fresh air and goodness in a bowl. The restoring healing benefits of soup are common knowledge across most traditional cultures. The first restaurant in France actually opened for the purpose of serving soup to ‘restore physical exhaustion’… This is actually where the word ‘restaurant’ comes from!

Ayurvedic sunshine detox soup incorporates all of my favourite spices for improving digestion, purifying the blood, cleansing the lymphatic system and giving the immune system a good boost. It’s also an amazing digestive-reset food as it’s light, hydrating, easy to digest, mineral-rich and gently detoxifying with the healing qualities of ayurvedic kitchen spices.

In ayurvedic medicine, feeling good and being healthy rests on the health of your digestive system or digestive fire, known in sanskrit as your ‘Agni’. When your inner fire (agni) is burning bright, you feel light, energized, clear and strong. When your agni is weak, low and out of balance, you might find yourself feeling tired, lethargic, cloudy in the mind, heavy, lazy and even depressed. Keeping your inner fire burning strong is important for the health and balance of every other system and process in your body. Healthy hormones, proper elimination of toxins, clear skin, energy, joy and inspiration all come from having a healthy digestive fire.

After a holiday season full of heavier foods, drinking, road-tripping service station snacks and generally being out of your regular eating routine, your body might be calling out to you for a digestion reset. Whether you’re hearing the call or not, it’s good practice to give your precious system a break via the cleansing goodness of some simple veggie soup. Soup to the rescue! If you feel like your body is crying for a little detox loving, try a gentle soup cleanse. This is an easy way to detoxify, cleanse your digestive organs and still feel nourished and satisfied.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ knob of ginger, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
3 cups pumpkin, cut into small cubes
2 medium zucchinis, finely chopped
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 handful green beans, chopped into small pieces
1 medium piece of broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1 1/2 litres of water
2 tsp sea salt
A few cracks of black pepper to taste
1 cup freshly chopped coriander

Method:
Warm ghee or coconut oil in a saucepan on medium heat, then add dry spices — cumin, coriander and fennel seeds. Stir to lightly toast the spices for 2-3 minutes or until they start to sizzle.
Add fresh ginger, red onion, garlic and turmeric powder. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until the onion becomes soft.
Add pumpkin, zucchini, celery, green beans and broccoli. Stir and pour 1 1/2 litres of boiling water from the kettle into the pot and cook on medium heat for approx 25 minutes until the pumpkin is soft and the veggies are cooked.
Turn off heat, add sea salt, black pepper and a small handful of fresh coriander. Serve in your favourite soup bowl with garnish of fresh coriander.

Serves 6.

Follow Lorien on Instagram, read her inspiring blog and keep en eye out for her upcoming eBook!

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8 years ago

Looks very delicious and healthy, especially with all those spices you use. I am sure this is perfect for a rainy Sunday, thanks for sharing!
https://www.makeandmess.com/

8 years ago

Your welcome Michelle! :) It is one o my favourite soups of all time! The best medicine for rainy weather and any weather for that matter! :) xx Lorien

8 years ago

Thanks for providing such a beneficial soup recipe for the detoxification of the body. Also, it tastes very well and my whole takes it atleast once in a day daily. Moreover, it has really helped me in washing away the inner harmful toxins and now, I feel refreshed & better than earlier.

Cross
8 years ago

What a lovely combination for cleansing. Thank you! May I ask, can butternut squash be considered as a substitute for the pumpkin? If not will canned pumpkin support the same cleansing effect? Difficult to find whole pumpkin. Thanks again!

Hi Ashley and Cross, :) thankyou for your feedback on my Sunshine Detox Soup Recipe. I’m so glad you have enjoyed it! I just saw your comments now and wanted to reply, though it was months ago! :)

Yes – you can use butternut squash in place of Pumpkin. I know that in north america it can be hard to find pumpkin (the same kind that we have in Australia) so go ahead and use butternut squash. It will have a slightly different texture, but will do the job and be nice and smooth!

Any other questions, feel free to ask me! :) x Love, Lorien

Heather
7 years ago

I see turmeric in the directions but not in the ingredient list. How much turmeric powder should be used? This looks like a lovely fall soup.

Thank you,
Heather

Admin
7 years ago
Reply to  Heather

hi heather! i believe it’s 1/2 tsp turmeric powder… :) enjoy!

Lolly
7 years ago

Instead of pumpkin, can sweet potatoes be used. Can find canned pumpkins cubes.

Pam
7 years ago

Hello, and thank you for the recipe. It is simmering now, we can hardly wait to taste it. I do have a couple of questions, I see someone already asked how much tumeric, but the directions also say to add fennel seeds, but they are not on the ingredient list either. How much? Your recipe says pumpkin but your photograph show what we call acorn squash. DId you use something different for your photos, or is that what you call pumpkin? Thanks so much!

Wanda
5 years ago

I see where a few questions have been asked and do not see answers…hmmm
Can sweet potato or pure pumpkin puree be used instead of pumpkin cubes? Difficult to get whole pumpkin or decent squash in my area in the spring. How much fennel seeds? I see Pam asked this question in Feb/17, but do not see a response.

3 years ago

I made this over the cold & rainy weekend & it was so warming & comforting.

Priti
2 years ago

If you have the same recipe 2-3 people or 2/3 servings than can you please post it on pinterest?

Pam
2 years ago

Made this on this cold, winters day, after Christmas celebrations and all of the bad food we ate. It was very good! I swapped the pumpkin for butternut squash and I also used half vegetable stock and half water. I will definitely make this again!

Pam
1 year ago

You didn’t show the amounts of fennel or turmeric?