Once upon a time, about a year ago, I started a blog.  It never really went anywhere for one reason or another.  The first recipe I posted on that blog was an early incarnation of this recipe, and recently a friend of mine reminded me of how much she liked it.  I decided to update the recipe to reflect what I know now about using anti-inflammatory ingredients.

This soup is a yummy combination of autumn flavors, is vegetarian, and is anti-inflammatory.  According to Dr. Jessica Black, a naturopathic doctor practicing in McMinnville, Oregon and the author of The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book, eating an anti-inflammation diet can ease and prevent conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, chronic pain, and heart disease.  I highly recommend that if you are interested in health and nutrition you buy this book.  Eating an anti-inflammatory diet means avoiding foods such as corn, tomatoes, potatoes, gluten, dairy, trans-fasts, refined cane sugar, alcohol and caffeine.  While it can sound rather restrictive, Dr. Black’s book provides numerous recipes and ideas on how to make dishes that are tasty and anti-inflammatory.  My cooking philosophy tends to follow this anti-inflammatory approach, and I like to focus on the abundance of items you can eat on the anti-inflammatory diet: almost all vegetables and fruits, whole grains, all types of beans, good fats, nuts and seeds, fish and most animal flesh, and small amounts of natural sweeteners.  Now I don’t want you to think I am a complete stickler to this diet, I would be misrepresenting myself.  I will from time to time use the more inflammatory items in my cooking, but I try to balance it out with more of the non-inflammatory foods.

Anti-Inflammatory Curried Black-Eyed Pea and Squash Soup

Ingredients:

Serves 8

1-2 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced

5-6 cloves garlic, crushed

3 bay leaves

1 tbl. curry powder

1 tsp. whole cumin seed

dash of cayenne pepper

dash of cinnamon

dash of chili powder

1 Delicata Squash, peeled, seeded, cut into chunks

1 carrot, chopped into small pieces

½ red bell pepper, chopped

1 bunch chopped Italian (Lacinato) kale

2 cups dried black-eyed peas, washed and picked over

8 cups stock or water

salt and pepper to taste, added at end

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot, preferably stainless steel. Add onions and sauté for about five minutes.  Add carrots and sauté a few minutes.  Follow with the crushed garlic and bay leaf and sauté a few minutes more.
2. Add water or non-salted stock (dry beans will not cook in salted water) and black-eyed peas. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that rises to the top. Reduce to a simmer and boil for approximately 30 minutes
3. Add spices, red bell pepper and squash, and let simmer for about another 15 minutes, or until beans and squash are tender.
4. Once beans are cooked, add chopped and stir. Remove from heat immediately and let sit for an additional 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.