Brussels Soup

Feeling sicky with all this cold wind blowing in LA, kicking up the dust and pollen and depositing it right into my sinuses. It has taken me many years to start distinguishing between a cold and allergies, but most of the time one leads to the other pretty quickly. So the headache and fatigue and stuffy head are really one and the same to me right now. After cooking up some macro-style brown rice and steamed greens I felt like making a soup. Brussels sprouts appealed to me but I could find no good b.s. soup recipes. So this one comes to you out of the blue, and in the making!

Heat up oil in the bottom of a big pot with caraway seeds, whole coriander and a little salt. In the heated oil sautee some onion til it is brown and browning the bottom of the pot. More flavor! Add chopped Brussels sprouts (in half, then half again), minced garlic and chopped carrots. Stir and sautee. In a separate pot heat up filtered water and dissolve an organic veggie bouillon cube; when it is dissolved add it to the soup pot. Add enough water to barely cover the veggies. After simmering for about 8-10 mins, add cooked red beans (either that you cooked yourself or from a can) and some diced unsalted tomatoes in their own juice, from a can or box (we had some left over from yesterday's pasta sauce!)

Let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. I turned off the heat then and added buckwheat groats, aka kasha, which only need to "cook" by soaking up the hot liquid. I might add some chopped walnuts too - not sure yet!!