Cancer is an ugly, heart-breaking disease that knows no boundary to race, sex or age. Even though loss is a product that cannot be dismissed; joy, victory, progress and health can also be part of the cancer journey. At 23 years old, newly married and fresh out of college, I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid leukemia. It more than rocked my world. It forever changed me. Here I am five years later from that diagnoses and I have experienced the loss of the naivety of my twenties, the joy of a remission, the appreciation of my body, the kindness of strangers, the love of my family and the pure joy of my adopted baby girl. I've also experienced the disappointment of a relapse.
This December my routine test results showed a small percentage of leukemia present in my labs. Heart-break? Yes. But this time a much stronger woman was there to cope. As I have navigated a new treatment plan, I've had support in a variety of ways and one of my favorite, of course, is with food. A friend and co-worker of mine brought me two soups made from her cancer-fighting cookbook: lemon chicken and minestrone. I love that she purchased this cookbook and utilizes it to love on people like myself. What a wonderful gift.
I wanted to share my story and this tasty recipe with you.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely diced yellow onion
1 cup of peeled finely diced carrot
1 cup finely diced zucchini
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
8 cups of Magic Mineral Broth (see future post) or store-bought organic stock
1 14 oz. can of tomato- crushed
2 cups of cooked kidney beans
2 cups stemmed and finely chopped Swiss chard
4 ounces of whole grain pasta, cooked
1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley
Grated organic Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until golden brown.
Add the carrots, zucchini, celery, garlic, oregano, thyme, fennel, red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and sauté about 4 minutes. Pour half a cup of broth to deglaze the pot and let cook until broth reduces by half.
Add the remaining broth, the tomatoes, and the beans and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in the chard and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in the pasta and the parsley.
Served topped with basil and a sprinkling of the Parmesan.
* Recipe from The Cancer Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz
'Till next time,
Natalie
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