Thanks to Living Tree Community Foods for providing this recipe.

The inspiration for this soup comes from several sources, including an excellent booklet, Nature’s Healing Grasses. It was written some 30 years ago by H.E. Kirschner, a physician who healed people afflicted with serious illness by putting them on a simple regimen: They would prepare a “green drink” at least once a day. It consisted of several greens, including “weeds” like malva, purslane, and lambs-quarters, as well as cultivated greens like parsley, placed in a blender and blended with pineapple juice.

I call it an “energy soup” because in my experience, it is easily digested and has the effect of enhancing one’s aliveness and well-being. We’ve been preparing “energy soup” at Living Tree Community for over a decade. We serve it at every meal. Here’s our basic recipe:

3 carrots, sliced thinly or diced
2 beets, sliced thinly or diced
1 apple or cucumber (in season), diced
Chopped parsley, celery, kale, collards, arugula, endive, spinach, cabbage, cilantro, chard, and lettuce (your choice)
Avocado
Lemon juice

Put the mixture into a blender. Add spring water or freshly made carrot juice. If you want to supercharge the drink, add a handful of wheatgrass. Blend into a thick, smooth “soup.” Serve immediately.

Variations: Grind some flax, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, or chia seeds in a seed mill or coffee grinder and toss it in, or add a chopped apple.