For this week’s installment of nourishing recipes from my wonderful postpartum doula, she’s walking us a super healthy green soup. MMM! Written with love from my doula, Stephanie Matthias, herself:

I love this soup because it’s easy to make, easy to reheat and easy to eat (sipping it out of a mug means you can even drink it while you’re breastfeeding). This soup is also packed with so many of my favorite postpartum ingredients: greens, bone broth and ghee.

The greens make this soup kind of a powerhouse – spinach, kale and swiss chard are all really high in vitamin k and a, kale is high in fiber, iron, vitamin c and calcium, and swiss chard is high in magnesium, potassium, trace minerals and antioxidants – which makes it the perfect thing to consume regularly during the six weeks after baby comes.

Bone broth is packed with collagen and gelatin as well as amino acids and minerals that help speed up your bodies healing process. Perfect for a mama recovering from birth. All of those things also support your skin, hair, nails and help to reduce cellulite.

The ghee provides a good amount of healthy fat which is super important for overall brain health, helps your body absorb all of the fat soluble vitamins and minerals from the greens and broth, and it helps to keep your hormones in check. Getting enough fat in your diet is also really important for supporting a health digestive system.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of using bone broth made with organic, grass-fed bones. The process of making the broth includes cooking the bones for long hours to leach out all of the gelatin, collagen, minerals, and vitamins. The healthier the animal that those bones came from, the higher quality your broth is going to be. In my opinion, it’s worth the extra dollars to buy the really good stuff (or make your own!), especially while you’re in the healing stages.

Recipe: Nourishing Green Soup

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, chopped
Ghee (Eat Good Fat is my favorite brand because it has the best flavor)
1.5 L or 24oz of bone broth (Bonafide Provisions is my favorite frozen option. Homemade is even better!)
Quantum Pink Salt
1 bunch kale, thoroughly washed and leaves off of the stems
1 bunch chard, thoroughly washed and leaves off of the stems
10 oz pre-washed spinach

Preparation:

1. Warm 2 tablespoons of ghee in a medium sized pot. Add the onions and allow them to sweat until they are translucent. It’s OK if they brown a little, but make sure the heat isn’t too high – you’re not caramelizing them.

2, Once onions are nicely fragrant and very translucent, add a generous pinch of salt, the kale and chard and cover with a lid. Allow the leaves to cook down, about 10 minutes, and then add all of the spinach. Allow that to cook down for about 5 more minutes.

3, Add the bone broth and let it all simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

4. Add everything to a good quality blender and puree well. Add 2 tablespoons of ghee and blend to emulsify. Add more salt to taste.

Enjoy!