Rachel's Two Song Soup* (Vegan)

This is a vegan broth for nourishing, gentle nutrition, particularly as you're breaking an extended water fast of a week or more.

My "fasting coach" (my experienced friend Rachel, who is so patient and gracious!) makes this broth to break her own lengthy water fasts. (And just to eat, too, I’m sure. It’s yummy!) These are the first "solids" you eat after a couple of days of only liquid nutrition when you're gently coming off of a lengthy fast. (Details about that whole process are for another post, as is the story of my friend Rachel, whose rheumatoid arthritis went from <wheel-chair bound & can't do stairs> to completely pain-free over the course of three years. Amazing!)

Only use organic ingredients, and add every ingredient even if you think you don't like it!

fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme* (put in herb bag)

bay leaves (3 whole)

garlic (1 bulb, crush cloves)

onions* (2)

carrots (5-6, plus some whole baby carrots))

parsnips (5-6)

celery (5-6 ribs)

celery root (1 whole)

leeks* (1 huge or more)

fresh greens (sweet leaves: chopped romaine, sweet baby lettuces, baby spinach—equivalent of 2 small boxes)

nutritional yeast (1/2 cup)

kombu (laminaria japonica seaweed, 2 sheets)

(Emerald Cove is a good brand for organic seaweed.)

dried mushrooms (1 bag, "forest blend" or "wild mix"—porcini, chantrelle, etc.)

strained Seitenbacher broth (brew 1/2 cup powder into broth, then strain)

Celtic sea salt (1-2 Tbsp)

Roughly chop vegetables, but into smaller chunks, not huge. Fill stock pot full (they cook way down, and it freezes well) and then fill to top level of pressed-down veggies with water/broth. Bring to a boil, then hard simmer for 45 minutes. You want the veggies tender but not disintegrating.

*Two Song Soup seemed to have a much nicer ring to us than "Rachel's Vegan Broth for Nourishing, Gentle Nutrition After a Long Fast"!😂

”Eating leeks and onions by the Nile” from "So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt” by Keith Green

“Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme” from “Scarborough Fair” by Simon & Garfunkel

NOTE: I will make a huge batch of this and we eat it the first night as a soup meal. Then I dice all the veggies small and freeze them in jars with the broth, to be a "soup starter" for any kind of vegan soup I'm making in the future.