And since we're in the midst of another snowpocolypse, soup sounded like a good idea to me. Okay so our area isn't exactly in any sort of dooms day zone, I'm pretty sure we missed a lot of the really nasty stuff, but we did get a pretty decent sleet early this morning along with a bit of snow, and it's still dangerously icy out there, so I'm considering us "snowed in" - I don't want to get out in it whether I can or not!
So I found this recipe on Pintrest: Winter Greens and Egg Soup / Stracciatella (which apparently is Italian for egg soup), and I'll admit I'm a judge-a-book-by-its-cover kind of girl, and the picture of it made my mouth water even though I had no idea what was in it besides, well, winter greens and egg. I pinned it before even reading it. Then I thought, hmm, maybe I should read it now, maybe it's easy enough to make and I can whip it up for lunch since we're not going to be going anywhere for awhile...
Turns out it was pretty basic, except I didn't have the winter greens it called for. I dug around in my fridge and found some stuff I figured wold work, then I sort of followed the recipe... then more and more I didn't... so now I think it's safe to call this my own, which is always fine by me! :) Especially since this turned out SO GOOD.
I'm especially happy about the garlic broth. The original recipe said to just use water, but I used chicken broth I had on hand. But garlic has some great immune boosting qualities. It's antibacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal, it has the potential to fight off bacteria that conventional drugs can't, plus it helps with heart health, reducing the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes, and can normalize blood pressure. It's even strong enough to help protect you against cancer! I just recently did a little more research on garlic. I used to take garlic supplements in pill form, but turns out those might not be the most effective way to go - swallowing a clove of garlic or otherwise adding it to a homemade vegetable juice would be more effective. Crushing or chopping it is what releases the compound allicin, which is the main ingredient that makes garlic so powerful in fighting off illness and infections. Unfortunately, though, the allicin is destroyed within an hour after it's been released, which is why those pills could pretty much be useless. Bummer, because they're so much easier to take than having to swallow a clove of garlic! Powdered, dried, or jarred garlic is pretty much pointless too, in that case (unless all you really care about is flavor). But, I know one thing, if I'm sick I'm usually willing to try anything, even if it means swallowing a clove of garlic!
So, about that soup. Here's how to make it!
3 cups natural chicken broth1/2 small head of garlic
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
2 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
2 cups spinach, stems removed
half a small yellow onion, diced
1 egg, room temperature
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
pinch of salt and pepper
Heat the broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Using a garlic press (I got mine from a Pampered Chef party and I really like it), crush all the cloves of garlic into the pot. Add the sage, parsley and bay leaf and stir to combine. Let simmer for about 30 minutes.
Transfer the broth to a glass measuring cup and add enough water in to equal 4 cups total. Pour into a pot and add the carrot and brussels sprouts, and let cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in the onion and spinach, and stir to combine.
Beat the egg with the grated cheese, salt, and pepper, and slowly pour it into the pot while whisking the soup at a steady pace.
Stir for two or three more minutes, then serve, let cool a bit, and enjoy!
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