I thought it was time for a yummy recipe for you beautiful souls 🙂 So feeling the cold of winter starting to move into my bones today (!) I popped on a slow cook to warm and nourish the Liver, soften and soothe the joints and gently detoxify. Because with the cooler seasons comes stagnation. This recipe includes native Australian herbs Wattleseed and Strawberry Gum. Read on to discover why it’s so important to look after your Liver in winter, and to download the recipe. Enjoy! xo Sulin
It’s time for a slow cook folks 🙂
In cooler seasons of the year your digestive function naturally becomes a little more…sleepy. It’s not as easy for our bodies to break down food because cold weather and less sunlight mean our body clocks lean more towards hibernation style practices.
Traditionally this meant a gradual shift to a warmer, cooked diet and if you feel like you naturally gravitate towards casseroles, bakes, stews and warm foods in autumn and winter, that’s completely normal. Our ‘agni’ as they call it in Ayurveda (i.e digestive fire) just isn’t as strong and robust in autumn and winter. So you want to make your food a little easier to digest. Less salads, more soups 🙂
I recommend this broth for anybody with an inflammatory condition such as persisting gut problems, food intolerances, chronic fatigue, long Covid and coeliac disease. (Check that you’re not allergic to anything in the recipe first though.) It would be especially beneficial for:
- Chronic fatigue
- Hypothyroidism
- After a viral infection including Glandular Fever and Covid
- Leaky gut, bloating, abdominal discomfort
- Liver conditions including having elevated liver enzymes on your blood test results
- Stomach pain
- Lack of appetite
- generally feeling stagnant in your digestive system.
- Women who experience period pain can use this broth to improve uterine blood flow which translates to better periods, less clotting and reduced pain at the onset of bleeding.
I should let you know that the taste of this broth is slightly sour, which you may or may not love (you can reduce the sour taste by using less lemon, or removing the lemon slices altogether). The sour taste is important for your liver though. Sour tasting herbs are wonderful liver detoxifiers and they help to bring all the healing elements of this broth to your liver. So it serves a purpose, but you can adjust the strength of the sourness as you like.
*If you have histamine intolerance you may need to remove the lemons as they are a citrus fruit.
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As you can see above this is a simple slow cook recipe. Chop up all the ingredients, make the vege broth and pop in the slow cooker for around 4 hours. I bought my native Australian herbs from Saltbush Kitchen but you can shop around online and find a reptuable supplier more local to you. And when serving I popped a fresh slice of lemon with a splash of turmeric powder for show, but you’ve got enough in the broth already so this is optional.
Enjoy a cup of broth every few hours for best effects. It’s a great solution for a gentle approach to fasting.
Slow Cook Vege Broth with Wattleseed & Strawberry Gum
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 onion (chopped into chunks)
- 1 carrot (chopped into chunks)
- 1 zucchini (chopped into chunks)
- 1 large potato (chopped into chunks)
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tsp Gevity (Anti-inflammatory) Body Glue liquid broth optional
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tsp wattleseed powder
- 1 tsp strawberry gum powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 slices lemon
- 1 tsp mixed herbs (parsley, oregano, basil)
- water to cover the veges - as suits
- fresh parsley leaves (garnish)
Instructions
- Chop up all the veges and add to the slow cooker.
- Boil water, add vege broth, Gevity Body Glue and all herbs and spices to the slow cooker. Place lemon slices on top.
- Cook on low heat for 4+ hours. Once ready, add fresh parsley leaves and sip through the day. have up to 4 cups daily.
Our native biosphere is rich in antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, digestion supporting and even anti-cancer chemistry. So the addition of Wattleseed and Strawberry Gum bring a host of healing benefits to this broth. But feel free to explore! The chart below will give you a sense of the vast range of therapeutic uses of Myrtle family plants like Eucalyptus, Lemon Myrtle, Tasmanian Blue Gum and Bottle Brush.
Want to learn more about cooking with native Australian spices? I cover this and more in my webinar “Myrtaceae Family”. It’s packed with information about the health benefits of Australian herbs and spices and how to use them as foods to create longevity and fight infection. The webinar purchase includes beautiful printable handouts with recipe recommendations.
Hey there! Welcome to my world of totally natural and powerful healing medicines. Medicines from nature. Medicine from Source. I’m a naturopath and herbalist with extensive clinical experience working with a range of health conditions including hormonal, metabolic, mental health, sleep and more.
I’ve brought together years of clinical and teaching experience, academic skill and curiosity to bring you this blog. I hope you enjoy it! If you do, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
