Souper Freak

Yesterday my friend (and Tyler’s roommate) Jose contacted me with a cry for help: He’d partied just a little too hard the night before, and needed some soup, stat. Fortunately I had spent the morning looking up recipes and had just the cure.

His request was perfectly timed because I was in the midst of the realization — and decision — that I need to recommit to cooking healthy, home made meals. If you haven’t noticed, I have been pretty bad about blogging lately. This is partly because I’ve been doing less cooking, and partly because even when I have cooked, I’ve simply been neglecting to document it here.

Well, no more. Not only I want to return to the kitchen (and the blog), but I am newly invigorated to focus on healthy, nourishing, “whole foods” recipes that are good for body and spirit. I’ve been struggling with feeling out of balance lately. I love my job, but it can be quite draining, and I have the tendency to be overly self-critical. Then I had the bright idea to join the Board of Directors for a small organization, taking up even more of my time and energy. In addition, I injured my foot recently, which broke the great momentum I’d been building in my workouts, and left me feeling pretty blue and frustrated since I couldn’t really get around (unless I was wearing my glamorous “air boot”).

So between all of these limitations, I just felt off track, which ended up screwing with my diet and eating patterns too. I’m striving to come back into balance, and one of the ways to do that is to pay careful attention to what I take into my body.

In search of a road map for healthier cooking and living, yesterday I immersed myself in the wisdom (and visual beauty!) of 101 Cookbooks, the blog of Heidi Swanson, a local cookbook author who actually lives here in San Francisco. Tyler bought me her first cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, for Christmas a couple of years ago, but to my disappointment I can’t find it anywhere! So I was thrilled to discover that she maintains a site that is just as informative and inspiring as her book.

So when Jose asked if I’d come over to his and Tyler’s house to whip up a pot of hot, delicious medicine, I picked not one, but two, of Heidi Swanson’s recipes, packed up my soup pot, stopped at the store, and spent the afternoon preparing what turned out to be the most delicious, satisfying hangover cure!

The remedy I prescribed? Green Soup with Ginger, so replenishing with its gingery, lemony broth and a nourishing combination of spinach, chard, leek and sweet potato. And — the real show stopper — Heidi’s unda-style quesadillas. Don’t worry, I didn’t know what “unda-style” meant either, but it involves the genius addition of a beaten egg to each quesadilla — you’ll have to visit Heidi’s blog and read the recipe to see how she does it! They were so decadent topped with dollops of lemon zest sour cream.

Our friend Alex — a most fantastic photographer — was there to capture the afternoon. Scroll through below to check out the gorgeous shots that Alex took. Thank you so much Alex!  So much better from my usual amateur snap photography!