The Color of Balance
Green is the color of balance and nourishment, and according to the principles of Chinese medicine it has a strong healing effect on the liver.
Not only are greens beautiful to behold, they contain a plethora of vital nutrients. Each green vegetable delivers its own unique healing properties: spinach supports the intestines and stomach; mustard greens improve circulation; and kale is an exceptional source of calcium and iron. What all greens have in common is chlorophyll, which has a strong healing effect on the body by simultaneously purifying and renewing the blood, while counteracting inflammation. It also expels toxins and even deactivates many potential carcinogens.
I find myself reaching for fresh, dark leafy greens whenever too much rich food has crept into my diet, and especially in spring when local greens start appearing at the farmers' market. These early, bitter greens provide the perfect way to cleanse and stimulate the liver after a long winter of heavy foods. Every spring, I like to make a tonic from a lightly cooked purée of bitter greens to detoxify my liver.
Since we are well into the warmer weather now, I made this soup, which is delicious served chilled! It turned out to be a great way to get the most out of the abundance of greens filling my refrigerator after a recent visit to a local farm.
Whether it’s chard, purslane, kale, turnip greens, spinach, watercress or dandelion, my meals are not complete without some sort of green on my plate – or, like here, in my bowl.
Spinach Nettle Soup with Sorrel Recipe
Amy Chaplin
Amy Chaplin is an Australian living in New York City by way of Amsterdam and London. She grew up in rural New South Wales in a family and community of gourmet vegetarians; cooking and eating meals from her family’s biodynamic garden sparked her passion for fresh ingredients and hand-made food. It can be said that Chaplin’s career as a chef began while making bread with her father and peeling apples for her mother’s crumble. Chaplin’s upbringing also helped inspire her philosophy, that how and what we eat directly affects the world in which we live, as well as our own well-being. To this day the food she cooks features local, organic and plant-based ingredients. After 5 years as executive chef of the world-renowned vegan restaurant Angelica Kitchen, Amy now consults, cooks and teaches privately, her clients include Natalie Portman and Anna Devera Smith, among others. Chaplin finds herself dispensing recipes and answering queries about the health benefits of ingredients on a daily basis. This whole foods chef is always happy to share her passion for the natural culinary arts and loves inspiring others to cook and eat well too.