Healthy Soup For Sick Loved Ones
I have been going in and out of the hospital this past few weeks to take care of my sick dad. Mom is quite old to shoulder all the caring for him and so I managed to stay with him longer hours.
He suffered from pancreatitis (swollen and dysfunctional pancreas) since the gall stones he has for years already erupted. The doctors was able to save him from total danger through a surgery. Now, he is recovering from it. Just a couple of days ago, he was allowed to take in a soft diet as he said goodbye to the liquid diet he has had for weeks.
When you are sick, your food choices are limited to healthy ones. The doctor reminded me to refrain from feeding my dad with instant noodles and soups. The good thing is I am used to preparing healthy meals for my little ones. And so, I simply pulled an old soup recipe from my recipe box. Here's what I got for him...
To make this soup, you will need the following ingredients:
green split peas, vegetable broth, butter, yellow onions, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, paprika, cumin, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, carrots, boiled eggs or toasted bread slices
1) Empty package of split peas into a colander or bowl. Sort through well, removing foreign matter and imperfect peas. Rinse well. Soak for two hours in 2 cups water.
2) Sauté minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil until garlic golden , but not brown in color. Add 2 extra quarts of broth, and bay leaves.
3) Bring to a boil for 1 minute; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour. Remove cover and simmer an additional hour or until soup is desired consistency. You can add one by one your seasonings - sea salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper.
4) In this case, I wanted a pureed soup since dad is on soft diet, and so I used a hand blender before adding in the cut carrots.
5) You can taste again the soup one half hour before serving; depending on your preference, you can add additional garlic or garlic powder and salt and pepper.
6) You can top it with boiled eggs or toasted bread slices.
He suffered from pancreatitis (swollen and dysfunctional pancreas) since the gall stones he has for years already erupted. The doctors was able to save him from total danger through a surgery. Now, he is recovering from it. Just a couple of days ago, he was allowed to take in a soft diet as he said goodbye to the liquid diet he has had for weeks.
When you are sick, your food choices are limited to healthy ones. The doctor reminded me to refrain from feeding my dad with instant noodles and soups. The good thing is I am used to preparing healthy meals for my little ones. And so, I simply pulled an old soup recipe from my recipe box. Here's what I got for him...
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| Wonderful Split Pea Soup |
To make this soup, you will need the following ingredients:
green split peas, vegetable broth, butter, yellow onions, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, paprika, cumin, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, carrots, boiled eggs or toasted bread slices
1) Empty package of split peas into a colander or bowl. Sort through well, removing foreign matter and imperfect peas. Rinse well. Soak for two hours in 2 cups water.
2) Sauté minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil until garlic golden , but not brown in color. Add 2 extra quarts of broth, and bay leaves.
3) Bring to a boil for 1 minute; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour. Remove cover and simmer an additional hour or until soup is desired consistency. You can add one by one your seasonings - sea salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper.
4) In this case, I wanted a pureed soup since dad is on soft diet, and so I used a hand blender before adding in the cut carrots.
5) You can taste again the soup one half hour before serving; depending on your preference, you can add additional garlic or garlic powder and salt and pepper.
6) You can top it with boiled eggs or toasted bread slices.
