Mushroom healing broth
Recipe Category: Gut Health, Immune Health, Anti Inflammatory
Recipe Design: All year, All meals
Cooking Time: 1 hour – or up to 6 hours
This broth is soothing to the nervous system, super nourishing, immune-modulating, and alkalizing to the body. Made with organic vegetables, medicinal herbs, turmeric and ginger root. You can of course use this as a base for your homemade soups and stews
Most the ingredients can be found at your local Farmer’s Market (or supermarket – but this is a healing broth – so organic is best if possible!). The basic ingredients in this healing broth include onions, garlic, carrots, celery, peppercorns, fresh herbs and bay leaves. Here is a breakdown of the ingredients and their healing properties. I recommend a health food store for dried mushrooms and once again make sure they are organic.
Onions: packed with quercetin, an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory polyphenol which helps reduce allergies and lowers histamine
Carrots: contain carotenes – precursor to vitamin A (key immune nutrient)
Celery: good source of vitamin K, B2, B6, vit C, contains the antioxidants apigenin and luteolin, which may relieve inflammation (including joint pain), allergies
Bay leaves: digestive stimulant, traditionally, an infusion of bay leaves was used to bring relief from coughs, colds, chest infections and fever, the essential oil can be massaged into joints to relieve pain and inflammation
Parsley: nutritive – contains chlorophyll, flavonoids, carotenes, minerals, a very good source of vitamin C, folate, iron
Thyme: antibacterial, antifungal, expectorant (improves clearing of mucous from the lungs)
Sage: antimicrobial, antioxidant, astringent, ally for sore throats/mouth/tongue, useful as a tea for excessive sweating
Garlic: nature’s antibiotic, prebiotic
Peppercorns: digestive stimulant, warming, nature’s circulatory stimulant, contains piperine – promotes absorption of certain nutrients
Shiitake: potent immune-modulators, enhancers of innate immunity, anti-viral
Reishi: supports your body's ability to handle stress and provides immune system support, too. They may also help calm the nerves while supporting healthy sleep cycles.
Chaga: helps support the immune system and it also helps support blood sugar regulation, and is a good source of various antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.
Astragalus: an immune-modulating herb with anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, expectorant and antioxidant actions. The constituents in astragalus are water-soluble, so a broth like this is the perfect medium in which to extract them (same goes for mushrooms like shiitake, above). It has a slightly sweet, gingery flavor and is traditionally used to support the immune system, to help the body adapt to stress, to support blood sugar regulation and as a lung tonic.
Turmeric: an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, liver-protective herb
Ginger: anti-inflammatory, digestive stimulant, warms and thins mucous, drives fresh blood to the peripheries – carrying nutrients and other therapeutic compounds with it
Kombu (a type of kelp): minerals from the sea to alkalize the body and support enzymatic activity, supports thyroid function due to iodine content, improves digestion – helps break down tough starches in
I didn’t add starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, swedes – they tend to make the broth cloudy. Beetroot can discolour the broth and dominate the flavor. Similarly, fresh garden herbs can be overpowering, so stick to a small handful of each (trust me, I’ve tried a mega-dose of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme – bleh! Waaaay too strong!)
Ingredients
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 onions
a whole garlic (10- 12 cloves)
3 carrots
5 large celery sticks
1 tablespoon peppercorns
small handful fresh parsley
small handful fresh thyme
small handful fresh sage
3 bay leaves
200 g shiitake mushrooms (or 10 dried)
100g enoki mushrooms
250g button mushrooms
100g reishi mushrroms (or 8 slices dried)
¼ cup dried chaga mushrooms
3 slices of astragalus root, slices or chopped
1 small piece turmeric grated
3 inch piece of ginger root grated
4 pieces kombu seaweed 5 inches in length
5 litres water
DIRECTIONS
1. Scrub your vegetables clean and cut the larger vegetables into chunks.
2. Add oil onions, carrots, celery, ginger, turmeric, peppercorns, parsley to a large stock pot (I’ve used a 6 litre/quart pot), till onions are soft and brown (3 – 5 minutes)
3. Add 5 litres of water.
4. Add all the spices, bay leaves, astragalus root,
5. Cover and bring to a boil, then slide the lid off halfway.
6. Add all the mushrooms
7. Simmer for about an hour (here you can extend to 6 hours – if you have the time. The longer the better so you can reap the benefits from the mushrooms.
8. Once slightly cooled, sip throughout the day.
Alternatively, drain the contents and refrigerate (for up to 3 days) and use as another soup or stew base.
Freezes well – I recommend filling glass jars ¾ full, to allow for expansion, otherwise you may end up with fractured glass
