Mushroom Magic Broth
GUT HEALING + ULTRA NOURISHING
It heals from the inside out, provides comfort on cold days, and feels just the most genuine kind of comforting - this mushroom-based broth is delicious and incredibly easy! If you’ve always wanted to try bone broth - but you’re vegetarian - then this recipe was literally made for you! This plant-based broth stacks up nicely compared to bone broth, by helping to improve gut health, adding minerals into your diet and giving your immune system a boost. It even has an almost meaty flavour thanks to it’s deeply savory and earthy flavors.
Once you’ve completed the broth, you can use this in any of your favourite soup recipes as a veggie broth substitute. To be honest though, it tastes so delicious and feels so nourishing on it’s own, you might not be able to resist just drinking it straight from a cup.
I discovered this broth recipe while living in Beijing China - where I lived for most of my twenties.
A Chinese friend and herbalist would make me a broth + juice cleanse each winter. It was my first experience with juice cleansing and needless to say… I was hooked. The broth she made had this distinct earthiness that I was never able to duplicate once I returned home. I finally figured it out, once I started incorporating more medicinal mushrooms into my diet.
That was the secret!
This broth takes me down memory lane every time I make it - and might be the most nutritionally packed cup of warm liquid I have ever drank.
Why are medicinal mushrooms so powerful?
Traditional Chinese Medicine has been using medicinal mushrooms for centuries to treat disease, reduce inflammation and build the immune system. More recently, they have been gaining widespread attention for being an adaptogen.
What is an adaptogen?
An adaptogen helps your body adapt to stress by calming the nervous system and potentially lowering blood sugar levels. Adaptogens are herbs and plants that can help your body reduce numerous types of stress - both physical and biological. When we get stressed out, our body produces hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which really take a wear and tear on our bodies. Including adaptogens to help us combat those physical side effects is a why we are seeing them become more main stream.
Chinese refer to reishi as the “mushroom of immortality” for its immune-boosting properties and ability to increase antioxidant activity. This ability to fight free radical damage means it contains anti-aging properties as well.
So why isn’t everyone dumping reishi in their smoothies every morning? Well, it still tastes like mushrooms, so . . . If I were you, I would start to broths like this one!
INGREDIENTS
3L water (about 12 cups)
3 TBSP coconut oil
1 onion
1 head of garlic, smashed
1 big knob of ginger, chopped
1 little knob fresh turmeric root, chopped
2 cups of spinach or kale
2 cups of chopped vegetables (anything! Sweet potato or carrot, and the stems of my broccoli or usually what I go for)
¼ of a red or green cabbage
10 shitake mushrooms
1 bag dried mushrooms of choice
a couple pinches of pepper
pinch or more of cayenne, depending on spice love.
1 TBSP Braggs Liquid Aminos or Tamari
½ bunch of fresh herbs of choice: parsley, cilantro,
1/3 cup of nutritional yeast
DIRECTIONS
Get a nice big pot and heat up the oil.
Add the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric root and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add everything else into the pot and fill the pot with as much water as you can fit – hopefully about 12 cups.
Bring to a boil.
Let it simmer with the lid on for an hour or so until everything has a chance to cook down.
Strain and enjoy!
HELPFUL TIP
Once cooled freeze half – we recommend freezing individual serving sizes to make it easy to grab one when you want it. Ziplocks work amazing - layed out flat as they take up way less freezer space.
OPTIONAL ADDITIONS
