Feeding Ourselves And Feeding Others

2nd February, 2009 - Posted by Maude -

It’s cold outside! Let’s make more soup! Soup nourishes us body and spirit; it nourishes us even more when we feed others.

Here is one of Maude’s all-time favorite recipes from Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites, with a slight variation. This soup is rich and warming, hearty and filling. We’ve never tasted anything else quite like it.

At Maude’s we are firm believers in healthy fats. In fact, we need healthy fats to have well nourished bodies. With that in mind, we altered this recipe to add a little healthy olive oil. Maude apologizes to the Moosewood.

Harrira

This soup is traditionally served in North Africa at the evening meal during Ramadan, the Muslim month of daytime fasting. This healthful, hearty soup is wonderfully fragrant and satisfying.

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup undrained canned tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
pinch saffron
1 cup cooked lentils (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup dried)  *Maude prefers french green lentils
1 cup drained cooked chickpeas
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper to taste

lemon wedges

In a soup pot or dutch over saute the onions in the olive oil. When the onions are soft add the cinnamon, turmeric, ginger and cayenne. Add the water, celery, and carrots. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and potatoes and continue to cook, covered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Crumble in the saffron. Stir in the lentils, chickpeas, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Marlene adds -

One time I made a very large pot of this soup for an entire college class at an art school where I was working. After that none of the students ever forgot me, though they didn’t remember the reason why. The instructor insisted it was because I fed them. None of the other classes remembered me at all. I think she had a point. It reminded me of this story.

I used to have a friend who knew a large family with 16 children. I never met the family but she loved to tell stories about them. I don’t remember many of the stories but one thing she told me has always stuck in my mind.

This family had one important rule that; it was something like their own golden rule.

EVERYONE FEEDS SOMEONE.

Every member of the family was responsible to find someone or something in the world to feed each day from the oldest to the youngest. From the time the babies were able to hold a cracker in their hands they were included in the rule. Even if they could only feed a morsel to the cat, they learned to think every day about who they were feeding.

Feeding others connects us as perhaps nothing else does. When we feed someone we belong to them and they belong to us. At least for the time we are feeding them we focus outside of ourselves, away from the ego. Instead, we dwell for a moment in the place where people are connected to the earth, through the food, and to one another, through the sharing. This is one of the oldest ways to connect known to humankind. It nourishes both the body and the spirit simultaneously. It grounds us in our basic goodness and calls us back to our best selves.

2 Comments

Johnna

February 3rd, 2009 at 3:05 pm    


Thanks for the wonderful recipe and inspiration Maude!

Chris T.

February 5th, 2009 at 5:12 pm    


I need to remember this because I want to make this soup. thanks!

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