Fertility Soup With Lemony Pumpkin Seed Pesto

I asked my friend Ashleigh, a culinary nutritionist, to create a new yummy recipe for our fertility patients. Ok, it’s not a magic soup that one spoonful you will be miraculously pregnant, but it does have some good ingredients to help you on your journey.

Ideally you use your own chicken broth you make from a chicken carcass. The Chinese believe that this helps increase your blood – which is very important in baby-making. The soup also includes pumpkin seeds which are a source of zinc, which is important for sperm development and hormonal health. We hope you enjoy it!

Hi! I’m Ashleigh Grange, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN) and Culinary Nutritionist based outside Barrie. I specialize in helping people discover, use, cook with and enjoy everyday foods that happen to have extraordinary healing benefits. My Fertility Soup with Lemony Pumpkin Seed Pesto recipe comes together quickly for a lunch or dinner that will help warm you up, feel satisfied, balance your blood sugar, and perhaps even leave you with a newfound appreciation for some lighter winter fare. A rich pumpkin and sunflower seed pesto with a bright lemony flavour tops it all off, livening up this easy twist on a not-so-classic creamy broccoli soup. This recipe is also dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free and corn-free. To make this soup vegan, simply substitute the chicken stock for your favourite vegetable stock. I hope you enjoy this delightful fertility soup on a sunny winter’s day! Here’s the recipe in all its glory: Fertility Soup with Lemony Pumpkin Seed Pesto

For the soup:

• 2 Tbsp coconut oil (organic, virgin/unrefined)
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (I use a microplane for this)
• 1 ¾ cups cooked chickpeas
• 4 cups of fresh broccoli, chopped into medium florets
• 4 cups homemade chicken stock (from organic, preferably pastured chickens)
• 3 cups almond or cashew milk (try my homemade almond milk tutorial using either almonds or cashews)
• Season with sea salt (use less if using salted stock) and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, preferably raw and organic (not roasted/salted)
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds, preferably raw and organic (not roasted/salted)
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, packed
• ¼ cup omega-3 oil (such as hemp seed, Udo’s oil or Vega Antioxidant Omega Oil Blend)
• Zest of 1 organic lemon
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Season with sea salt to taste

1. Get all of your ingredients ready.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, add the coconut oil and sweat the onions over low-medium heat, stirring regularly, until soft and translucent.
3. Add the minced garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the chickpeas, broccoli and chicken stock. Increase heat to medium. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until broccoli is bright green and just barely tender.
4. While the soup cooks, make the pumpkin seed pesto. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the ingredients are blended to form a thick paste. I prefer a slightly chunky pesto but you can blend until smooth if you prefer. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of water if the ingredients aren’t blending smoothly.
5. Test the broccoli for doneness and if tender, remove the soup from the heat.
6. Add the almond or cashew milk. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth and creamy. If you don’t have an immersion blender, just add your soup to a blender in small batches, puree it and return it to the cooking pot. Please make sure you have a blender that can properly vent itself (such as a Vitamix) in order to do this safely.
7. Do this until all of the soup has been pureed or feel free to leave some of the soup chunky for a different texture. You can heat this over very low heat for a few minutes if it’s not as warm as you would like.
8. Serve the soup with a dollop of the pumpkin seed pesto on top. Enjoy!

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