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

(more…)