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When my mom knows I am feeling under the weather, she expects that I will ask her to whip up some homemade chicken noodle soup to ease my sniffles and congestion. As the weather gets colder, I love to experiment with new soup ideas using my slow cooker and pressure cooker. I was eager to review Souping is the New Juicing by Cherie Calbom since I am mostly dairy and gluten free. I have tried juicing and wound up selling my juicer for $25 at a garage sale. I didn’t care for the blueberry stained ceiling. And, who has the time to clean everything? Not me – so souping seems like a more efficient option.

I read Souping is the New Juicing in two days. It’s a very easy, informative read.

Souping is the New Juicing begins with Cherie’s story. I really enjoyed learning about the authors experience that lead her to live a healthier lifestyle. Sometimes it takes tragedy and hardship to change our habits, routines, and roles and ultimately prevail

Living Foods was one of my favorite chapters where Cherie breaks down important components of soups (i.e. asparagus, watercress, cilantro) and explains why they are important. I like to know why foods are good for me to eat, and I learned that rosemary, one of my favorite herbs, has the ability to improve mood, increases intelligence, boosts memory, and relives pain (Souping is the New Juicing, p 55).

Souping is the New Juicing then educates us how to detox with soup. You take quizzes throughout this chapter, discovering if you have a build up of toxicity, and/or if you are in need of a colon, kidney, liver, or lymphatic cleanse. This section is very thorough!

Cherie has a chapter on soups for weight loss. Cherie taught me that mushrooms, legumes, watercress, almonds and coconut oil are great for weight loss. (Souping is the New Juicing, 117-118). I haven’t tried watercress, but am going to put that on my shopping list for my next soup adventure.

I appreciate all of the research that Cherie has put into Souping is the New Juicing. She has many studies and sources listed, which helps me to understand why souping works!

The last chapter of the book is dedicated to recipes. Categories of soup recipes include:

• raw blender
• gently warmed
• creamy
• vegetable
• healing
• detox
• soups with legumes
• soups with muscle meat

I appreciate that all of the recipes are gluten, dairy, and sugar free.

Although it’s ideal to cook soup in a stock pot on the stove, most of the recipes in this book can be prepared in my Blend-Tec, pressure cooker or slow cooker. I also recommend a good immersion blender.

I experimented – not quite following the recipes in the book, but including ingredients that Cherie mentioned in the third chapter. (The right picture, below contains chicken broth, water, spinach, leeks, sweet potatoes, jalapenos, and onions that I threw together in my pressure cooker. The left picture contains vegetable broth, sweet potatoes, leeks, and spinach that was the result of 8 hours in the slow cooker.)

Soups certainly warms my soul, and they definitely make me feel good about myself. I know that I am giving my body what it deserves – nutrients, vitamins, minerals, enzymes…and the list continues… 

Souping is the New Juicing is a terrific reference and a constant go-to on my cookbook shelf. I would recommend Souping is the New Juicing to anyone looking to incorporate healthy soups into their diet.

About Cherie Calbom

Cherie Calbom earned a Master of Science degree in whole foods nutrition from Bastyr University. She is the author of 35 books including Juicing for Life with more than 2 million books sold in the U.S. and published in 23 countries. She has worked as a celebrity nutritionist with George Foreman and Richard Simmons, and has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows. Known as “The Juice Lady” for her work with juicing and health, her juice therapy and cleansing programs have been popular for more than a decade.

Visit Cherie’s website, and be sure to visit her on Facebook, and Twitter.

Namaste.