Here, finally is that nettle soup I promised you a few weeks ago. Nettle is another one of my favorite nutritional powerhouses. High in minerals and antioxidants including vitamin C. It may reduce inflammation, treat hay fever, lower blood pressure, aid in lowering blood sugar and treat enlarged prostate

The winter months bring an abundance of mushrooms. The health benefits of mushrooms are no longer a secret. The supplement aisle in your natural food market is robust with medicinal mushrooms for the immune system, the brain and beyond.

With the days cooling down, I have been craving warming curry flavors and something cozy for some time now. Something creamy and coconutty and smooth, with a touch of Indian spices. I had some squashes left over from my Winter Squash Roundup post not long ago and wanted to use them, and whipped this up. 

The creamy and pureed soup is dairy free, mild in licorice from the fennel and sweet in flavor from the pear. Since I featured GARA this week in my Visit With… blog, I decided to incorporate their fennel hydrosol, to add more fennel depth of flavor, distilled from organic fennel seeds. The fennel hydrosol of course is completely optional. The fennel hazelnut relish was something I concocted recently and I added chili flakes which gives this dish a little kick. It is a really tasty addition to the soup. Nutritionally, fennel bulb is a good source of Vitamin C, the bulb and the fennel seeds both contain manganese which has been shown to assist in enzyme activation, blood sugar regulation, cellular protection, wound healing and bone development. I love to drink a cup of fennel seed tea nightly because I notice it settles my stomach and benefits my digestion. Just put a spoon full of the seeds into a mesh strainer and pour hot water over the seeds and steep for 6-7 minutes. In the meanwhile enjoy this beautiful seasonal soup. Check out fennel’s many health benefits here.