Soup for the Soles – Gnocchi and Turkey Meatball Soup

Whether you’re caught in a backslapping wet thunderstorm or slogging through icy slush puddles, few things chill more deeply than moisture – and what better way to warm up than eating a bowl of  hot soup. Chinese medicine practitioners often recommend soup to boost immunity and detoxify cells. A 1999 article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal called soup an essential drug, while the scientific journal Chest has published several studies investigating soup’s scientific merit. When you have to get the cold out of your bones or the flu out of your head, Grandma wasn’t far off when she insisted you eat chicken soup – but it’s not the chicken that wards away illness.

Fluid is essentially the body’s means to eliminate wastes, and soup boosts hydration to shuttle out impurities while replacing water and electrolytes lost from sweating. Soup’s heat increases circulation, not only to warm your fingers and organs, but  also to deliver nutrients to cells, speed muscle repair and slow inflammation. According to Chinese medicine, warming foods known to help with circulation and immunity – like leeks, onions, turnips, spinach, kale, broccoli, garlic, scallions, parsley, mustard, ginger and turmeric – are essential soup ingredients.

When you’re ill or even if you’re feeling a little queasy after a hard run, whole foods, especially fibrous vegetables and whole grains, can be hard to stomach. Slaving over a stove is equally unappealing. But a slowly simmered soup releases nutrients into the broth and is far easier to swallow than a plume of kale leaves. Throw a mixture of cabbage, carrots, ginger, onion, and oregano for a hydration-building and immune-boosting soup during a demanding training schedule. Blend Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, cilantro, fennel, garlic, ginger, kale, leeks, shiitake mushrooms, yams, mustard greens and seaweed with a dash of cayenne and turmeric for a filling, antioxidant-rich recovery soup. Or simply buy some stock, add any of the above ingredients, and for a twist, put the leftover protein from last night’s meal in the pot and you’ve got an easy-to-make, easy-to-digest immune aid.

Common ingredients like celery, sage, parsley, onions and parsnips have enticing aromas help blood flow to nasal passages. They’re also responsible for slowing neutrophilic action, the method by which cold viruses overtake healthy cells. When your body responds to a virus, neutrophils rush to the scene. Soup’s active ingredients slow neutrophil migration.

Beyond the nutritional properties of its ingredients, soup mechanically opens congested airways. Moist heat loosens stubborn sinuses, but it seems soup’s effects last longer than hot water alone. In comparison to hot water, several trials have confirmed nasal mucous velocity actually increases and nasal airflow resistance decreases with soup eating. We don’t know exactly how a soup does this, but researchers suspect the synergistic properties of soup – heat and nutrients – are the best bet.

Many grandparents pass along a soup recipe guaranteed to bring colour to pallid cheeks and a spring to your step. With heat, hydration, antioxidants and some good old-fashioned TLC, soup is the perfect drug to keep you running.

RECIPE

A former banking executive, Marlene MacPherson shifted her focus to healthy eating and disease prevention after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. A veteran of road races from the 5K to the half-marathon, the Aurora, Ont. native founded Marlene’s Meal Makeovers to help families eat more wholesome, disease-preventing food. Now two years post-treatment, MacPherson is doing meal planning for cancer survivors training for the CIBC Run for the Cure in October and plans to run her first full marathon in the spring of 2011.

Marlene MacPherson’s Gnocchi and Turkey Meatball Soup

With protein, complex carbohydrates and not too much fat, this delicious soup is perfect for runners, especially the night before the big race. So eat up and get ready to lace up your shoes.

First, make the turkey meatballs. This is a double recipe, so either make extra meatballs and store them in the freezer or use half the recipe to make turkey meatloaf (see recipe at marlenesmealmakeovers.com).

Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tsp of fresh thyme leaves
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• ¾ cup chicken stock
• 1 ½ tsp of tomato paste
• 4 pounds ground turkey breast
• 1 ¼ cups plain dry bread crumbs
• 3 extra large eggs, beaten

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a sauté pan, on medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt,
3. pepper and garlic until the onions are translucent.
4. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool at room temperature.
5. Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs and onion mixture in a
6. large bowl.
7. Form into about 20 meatballs and put half of them in the freezer for later, or reserve half the mixture to make turkey meatloaf.

Gnocchi and Turkey Meatball Soup

Ingredients:

• 10 turkey meatballs
• 1 package store-bought whole wheat gnocchi
• ½ cup of diced celery
• ½ cup of diced carrots
• ½ cup of diced onions
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6-8 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 1 bunch kale or 2 cups raw spinach, washed and trimmed

Method:

1.      Heat olive oil in a large pot on top of stove, and then add diced onions, carrots and celery.

2.      Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

3.      Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.

4.      Add turkey meatballs and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

5.      Reduce heat to a simmer.

6.      Cook for an additional 12 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.

7.      Add gnocchi to pot and cook for 2 minutes.

To serve:

Add raw kale or spinach to the bottom of your soup bowl, and then pour hot soup on top. The soup will wilt the greens and provide a nutritional punch to the dish.

Nutritional info per serving for Gnocchi Turkey Meatball Soup

Serves 8

Calories: 435

Fat: 19.4 g

Carbohydrates: 31.4 g

Protein: 32.5 g

Sodium: 720 mg

Fibre: 3.3 g