This raw vegan, creamy Jerusalem artichoke and parsnip soup with hazelnut milk is a nutty and flavorsome soup that is ideal for the cooler months of the year.
For the soup
Wash the Jerusalem artichokes and parsnips. Puree all soup ingredients in a high-speed blender for 5 minutes until the soup is very creamy and slightly warm.
The original recipe calls for lupine miso or lentil miso instead of standard miso, herb salt instead of normal salt, and apple or pear balsamic vinegar.
We have halved the amount of canola oil to just half a tablespoon and reduced the salt from 1–1½ teaspoons to just a pinch. See “Tips.”
Instead of ½ teaspoon date sugar, we used 1 date.
For the marinated Jerusalem artichokes
Wash and finely slice the Jerusalem artichokes. Marinate with hazelnut oil, salt, and some lemon juice.
Garnishing and serving
Pour the soup into 6 glass bowls.
Garnish with the marinated Jerusalem artichokes, finely chopped parsley, pepper, pumpkin seed oil, and chopped hazelnuts.
Detailed Nutritional Information per Person for this Recipe
The majority of the nutritional information comes from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). This means that the information for natural products is often incomplete or only given within broader categories, whereas in most cases products made from these have more complete information displayed.
If we take flaxseed, for example, the important essential amino acid ALA (omega-3) is only included in an overarching category whereas for flaxseed oil ALA is listed specifically. In time, we will be able to change this, but it will require a lot of work. An “i” appears behind ingredients that have been adjusted and an explanation appears when you hover over this symbol.
For Erb Muesli, the original calculations resulted in 48 % of the daily requirement of ALA — but with the correction, we see that the muesli actually covers >100 % of the necessary recommendation for the omega-3 fatty acid ALA. Our goal is to eventually be able to compare the nutritional value of our recipes with those that are used in conventional western lifestyles.
This raw vegan, creamy Jerusalem artichoke and parsnip soup with hazelnut milk is a nutty and flavorsome soup that is ideal for the cooler months of the year.
Jerusalem artichokes: Jerusalem artichokes can be eaten fresh in salad or cooked in soups. You don’t have to peel them, just wash well before using. Jerusalem artichokes have a watery consistency and a slightly sweet flavor similar to that of artichoke bottoms. Jerusalem artichokes contain 16 % inulin, which is an indigestible storage carbohydrate. Inulin acts as a dietary fiber in the intestine. Since inulin is not digested in the small intestine and fermented in the large intestine, this can lead to flatulence. Jerusalem artichokes can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.
Parsnips: Parsnips have a sweet, nutty flavor and can be slightly spicy or bitter. They stimulate the appetite and have a diuretic effect.
Miso: Strictly speaking, miso is not a raw product since the soybeans are heated during the production process in order to deactivate the glycoprotein phasin, which is toxic for humans. Phasin inhibits the absorption of nutrients in the intestine, causes hemagglutination (clumping of the red blood cells), and in larger amounts can destroy the intestinal villi. Heating processes (e.g., cooking and roasting) destroy phasin and make soybeans and soybean products such as miso edible for humans. As a result, even unpasteurized soy products are not actually raw, but are instead cooked products that have been “revived” through the process of fermentation. Miso is also produced from other legumes and grains by heating them at the beginning of processing. Since the amount of miso used is relatively small, we have nevertheless declared this recipe as raw food.
Misconceptions about vitamin B12: It is a common misconception that fermented products are a source of vitamin B12. Lacto-fermented foods, for example, sauerkraut and tempeh, contain small amounts of B12 but these are primarily inactive B12 analogs. They do have biochemical similarities, but our body cannot use or convert these analogs.
Tips
Reducing salt and oil: We have intentionally cut the amount of salt in half. The aim is to reduce the amount of salt you use as much as possible without compromising on flavor. Since the amount of salt we need to season food varies, try it out for yourself and see where and by how much you can reduce your salt intake. We have also reduced the amount of oil in this recipe. For more information on the topic, we would encourage you to read the book Salt, Sugar, Fat.
Alternate preparation
Tip from Boris Lauser: You can replace Jerusalem artichokes with kohlrabi.
Plant-based milk: You can replace hazelnut milk with other nut-based milk such as almond milk.
Make your own almond milk: You can find a recipe to make your own almond milk by clicking on this link: Raw Almond Milk.
