“Organic Garlicky White Pumpkin and Garbanzo Bean Soup”

Here is a great tasting twist on a traditional soup from Spain. This hearty soup is easy to make, takes no time at all to put together and it’s sure to please everyone. Plus it’s full of the nutritional power of organic pumpkin and garbanzo beans.

Ingredients:

3 - Cups of Organic White Pumpkin with the skin on cut into medium pieces. Use small organic white pumpkins because their skin is very tender and they cook quickly.
3 - Cups of Organic Garbanzo Beans Cooked
1 - Large Organic Yellow Onion Chopped
2 - Cups of Organic Russet Potatoes Cubed with Skin on - or Taro Root or Malanga can be used.
1 1/2 - Cups of Organic Carrots Sliced
1/2 - Cup of Organic Red Bell Pepper Cut into Very Tiny Pieces
10 - Cloves of Organic Garlic Minced
1 - Cup of Organic Kale or Organic Cabbage Chopped
3 - Cubes of Organic Salt Free Veggie Bouillon
Enough Filtered Water to Cover Everything
Salt and Pepper to Taste - Use the salt sparingly

Take the garlic and onion and sauté them in a large pot until translucent. Then add everything else and the water and cook until everything is tender. Then salt and pepper to taste. Next take 1/3 of the mixture and blend until smooth and pour back into the pot, this will thicken the soup. Make sure that the pumpkin does not over cook and fall apart, it’s better if most of the pumpkin holds it’s shape.
This soup is great on cold days, and it freezes well for later use.

Heath Benefits of Organic Pumpkin

Pumpkin is just one winter squash, this family also includes Butter Nut, Hubbard, Turban, Kabocha, Acorn, Spaghetti Squash, White Pumpkins, Blue Kokkaido Pumpkins, Cheese Pumpkins, Red Kuri Pumpkins, Sweet Dumpling Pumpkins, and other less know winter squash.

These orange fleshed squash have amazing amounts of Beta Carotene and Vitamin A. In fact they contain 300 times the RDA of Vitamin A. With hardly any calories… (only 75 calories per cup) make them a great diet food. Lots of fiber creates a wonderful place for probiotic bacteria to grow and boost your immune system and keep you regular. Winter Squash helps to regulate blood sugar levels and insulin production, and it also has a very low glycemic index. Which means it breaks down into sugars very slowly making it great for diabetics. Without oxidization cancer can’t take hold, and that’s why antioxidant rich foods like Winter Squash are very important for preventing cancer.

Winter Squash works wonders for staving off disease because they are packed full of lots of great antioxidants that protect you from colds, flues, cardiovascular disease, strokes, and even cancer. One cup of Winter Squash will give us over 18,000 micrograms of Beta Carotenoids a powerful antioxidant.

Winter Squash contains Cucurbitacin which is a powerful anti-inflammatory that helps to prevent diseases including arthritis. And because inflammation is the root cause of cardiovascular disease this means that Winter Squash can make a difference by curtailing cardiovascular disease. And Cucurbitacin is a powerful antimicrobial agent working well to kill off all invading bacteria and viruses.
Winter Squash lowers LDL or bad cholesterol because it contains Cucurbita which prevents the formation of cholesterol. Winter Squash contains Vitamin C a powerful antioxidant, lots of B vitamins for prenatal health and vital energy, magnesium for preventing migraines, tryptophan for getting a good nights rest, Vitamin K to prevent excessive clotting, copper and iron for anemia, zinc for boosting your immune system, potassium for water regulation, manganeses for lots of great things including helping with depression and strong bones, and a healthy dose of fiber to promote probiotic development… and thus boost your immune system.

Winter Squash contains great Omega 3 Oils that prevent cardiovascular disease and strokes. One cup of Winter Squash gives us almost 350 mgs of Omega 3 oils. Winter Squash is virtually fat free thus making it a great weight loss food.

Health Benefits of Organic Garbanzo Beans

Beans have lots of great soluble and non soluble fiber that help lower cholesterol and triglycerides thus preventing heart disease, strokes, and cancer. Beans lower LDL or bad cholesterol. Because beans don’t contain fats that are found in other types of protein like animal products, beans can lower our blood pressure. And they don’t cause any inflammation like that associated with animal protein which produces high blood pressure. And studies show that people who eat beans on a regular basis have lower blood pressure.

Beans have lots of antioxidants, and kidney beans have more antioxidants than blueberries. – It’s true! This means beans can boost your immune system and help prevent diseases such as auto-immune disease, colds, flues, cancer and more.
Beans contain 9 to 12 grams of fiber per serving, that’s a lot of fiber. And fiber is needed for creating a good environment for colon health.

Beans have lots of wonderful fiber that boost our immune system by creating a place for probiotic bacteria to grow. Thus keeping good bacteria working to keep you healthy and preventing bad bacteria from taking over and creating disease. Good colon health = good health… and eating beans can reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer. Beans contain protease inhibitor enzymes that prevent cancer. Thus eating beans on a regular basis is very important for cancer prevention. Beans contain phytonutrients such as coumenstrol, cinnamic acid, and secoisolariciresinol which all help to prevent cancer. And eating beans at least 2 to 4 times a week can lower our risk of breast and prostate cancer by almost 25%. – Great!

A study at Tulane University shows that eating 4 servings of beans a week lowered the incidents of heart disease by more than 20%. Plus beans have lots of potassium and magnesium that help relax blood vessels and thus lower blood pressure… and help with water regulation too. And beans lower homocysteine levels thus lowering inflammation… thus preventing heart attacks. And beans contain phytonutrients (These nutrients are also found in chocolate, berries, and wine) that prevent the clumping together of platelets in the blood thus preventing heart attacks.

Studies with beans show the more beans we eat the easier it is to control our blood sugar. Beans stabilize our blood sugar because beans have a low glycemic index, that means they break down into sugar very slowly… and making them wonderful food for weight loss and diabetics. And because beans lower blood pressure, it means prevent renal disease, because high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of kidney failure.

A study was done with wheat bran and beans, two different groups, at the end of study it was found that wheat bran lowered cholesterol and blood sugar. But the group that ate beans lowered blood sugar, cholesterol, and also lowered blood pressure too! That was an unexpected result making beans very important for health… especially for diabetics.

Enjoy this great tasting soup!

Dr. Paul Haider - Master Herbalist