The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2017

Boost Health with Vegetables
Green Witch Kitchen Recipes
Walking the Green Path

Like fruit, a vegetable is a plant’s visible seed container, and vegetables thus carry the magical associations of cycles and fertility. When you cook, therefore, you can choose your vegetables for their seasonal associations and eat them to attune to the seasonal energy. You can also choose them for their magical associations.

Here’s a brief list of common vegetables and their magical associations:

✵ Garlic: healing, protection, banishing, purification

✵ Onion: protection, exorcism, healing, prosperity

✵ Lettuce: fertility, peace, harmony, protection

✵ Carrots: fertility, health

✵ Peas: love, abundance

✵ Cucumber: fertility, healing, harmony

✵ Potatoes: fertility, protection, abundance

✵ Celery: love, tranquility, concentration

✵ Squash: abundance, harmony

✵ Mushroom: strength, courage, healing, protection

✵ Leek: protection, harmony

✵ Cauliflower: protection, fertility

✵ Broccoli: protection, abundance

✵ Beans: love, family, protection

✵ Cabbage: protection, prosperity

✵ Tomato: protection, love

SOUPS

Soup is a wonderful way to use vegetables. A main dish of soup with a hearty bread can be a filling way to enjoy these healthy foods. Here are a handful of vegetable-based soup recipes for various seasons.

GAZPACHO

This chilled vegetable soup is a refreshing summer solstice treat or a pleasant accompaniment to grilled meats. Magical associations for this soup include prosperity, health, love, protection, peace, and harmony. This recipe is a green witch’s dream, for it covers almost all seven basic areas of her focus. Green peppers are associated with prosperity; cucumber is associated with peace, harmony, and health; tomatoes are associated with love and health; celery is associated with peace; onions and garlic are associated with protection and health; and avocados are associated with love.

Serves 4—6

✵ 2 large green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and diced

✵ 1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped

✵ 2 pounds tomatoes, cored and diced

✵ 1 celery stalk, chopped

✵ 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

✵ 2 garlic cloves, peeled

✵ 1 medium avocado, chopped (optional)

✵ 1 teaspoon salt

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

✵ Pinch of basil

✵ Pinch of parsley

✵ ¹/₃ cup olive oil

✵ 1 tablespoon lemon juice

✵ ¹/₄ cup red wine vinegar

✵ 2 (12—15 ounce) cans tomato juice or V8 juice

1. In a blender, combine first seven ingredients in small batches and blend until smooth.

2. Pour into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.

3. Cover and chill for at least 5 hours or overnight. Stir well and taste for seasoning before serving. Adjust as necessary.

4. Serve in bowls or large mugs. Garnish soup as desired with croutons, sour cream or yogurt, or parsley.

APPLE, ALMOND, AND CURRY SOUP

A refreshing twist on standard soup, this is a lovely meal to serve around the autumn equinox. Magical associations for this soup include health and healing, prosperity, and protection. Apples are associated with health, healing, love, protection, and immortality. Almonds carry the energy of prosperity and healing. Curry is associated with protection.

Serves 4—6

✵ ¹/₄ cup butter

✵ 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

✵ 1 ¹/₂ pounds apples, cored, peeled, and diced

✵ 6 tablespoons ground almonds

✵ 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

✵ ¹/₂ teaspoon curry powder

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon salt

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

✵ ¹/₂ cup light cream, plain yogurt, or almond milk

✵ Toasted sliced almonds for garnish

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onion and cook gently until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the diced apples and stir gently for 2—3 minutes.

2. Sprinkle ground almonds over the apple and onion mixture and stir for another 1—2 minutes.

3. Pour in the stock and curry powder and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Apples should be tender.

5. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour the soup into the blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

6. Pour soup through a strainer into a clean pan. Add cream, yogurt, or almond milk and stir until blended. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. If soup is too thick, add a bit more stock. Reheat gently.

7. Serve hot, garnished with a few slices of toasted sliced almonds, with an additional pinch of curry powder on top if you desire.

TOMATO SOUP

Tomatoes have traditionally been associated with love and protection. They’re also bursting with vitamins, which makes them an ideal fruit to use for improving health. Basil is associated with love, protection, and prosperity, while cheese is associated with love, joy, and spirituality. Magical associations for this soup include prosperity, health and healing, and love.

Serves 4—6

✵ 2 tablespoons olive oil

✵ 1 medium onion, peeled and diced

✵ 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

✵ 1—2 tablespoons fresh pesto (optional)

✵ 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

✵ 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon salt

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

✵ Shredded fresh basil for garnish

✵ 2 tablespoons grated Asiago or mozzarella cheese for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, and pesto (if using). Cook gently for 5 minutes over medium heat until onion is soft.

2. Add the tomatoes and the stock. Stir well and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper.

3. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 15—20 minutes.

4. Remove from heat and allow soup to cool slightly. Pour into a food processor or blender and blend in batches until smooth. Strain into a clean pot to remove any remaining lumps.

5. Return soup to the stove and reheat gently. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Add more stock if the soup is too thick.

6. Serve hot in bowls. Sprinkle with shredded fresh basil, a pinch of grated Asiago or mozzarella cheese, and a pinch of freshly ground pepper.

CARROT, CORIANDER, AND ORANGE SOUP

This is a wonderful late summer or early autumn soup. Magical associations for this soup include health and happiness. Carrots are associated with health and vital energy, while oranges are associated with happiness and health. Both are a bright orange color, which is associated with health, success, and solar energy. The coriander in this recipe carries the energy of love and active, vital energy.

Serves 4—6

✵ 3 tablespoons olive oil

✵ 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped

✵ 1 ¹/₂ pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

✵ 2—3 tablespoons ground coriander

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon salt

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

✵ 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

✵ ¹/₄ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

✵ Thin strips orange zest (optional for garnish)

✵ Crushed coriander seeds (optional for garnish)

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot. Add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes or until soft.

2. Add carrots, coriander, salt, and pepper to taste. Cover and heat gently for 5 minutes to soften carrots, shaking the pan from time to time to prevent them from sticking.

3. Pour in stock and stir. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and cover the pot. Simmer gently for 30 minutes or until carrots are very tender.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour into a blender or food processor and blend in small batches until smooth. Strain soup into a clean pot to remove any remaining lumps.

5. Add the orange juice to the soup and reheat gently. Add more stock if the soup is too thick. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

6. Serve hot in bowls. If desired, garnish with strips of orange zest and crushed coriander seeds.

ONION SOUP

Onion soup is a delicious way to warm up in the winter. Magical associations of this soup include health and protection. Onions carry the energy of protection from evil and harm as well as good health. They are also an excellent food to consume to boost the immune system to fight illness. Parsley is associated with protection, prosperity, and fertility.

Serves 4—6

✵ 6 tablespoons butter

✵ 4—6 large white onions, peeled and chopped

✵ 3 tablespoons brown sugar

✵ 2 tablespoons flour

✵ 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

✵ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon salt, or to taste

✵ ¹/₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

✵ ¹/₄ cup sherry or port (optional)

✵ Baguette or croutons for garnish

✵ 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese for garnish

✵ Chopped parsley for garnish

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add onions and brown sugar and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes or until sticky and caramel-brown. Remove from heat.

2. Stir in flour. Slowly add stock, stirring constantly. Return to heat and bring to a boil, stirring regularly. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the sherry or port (if using). Taste and adjust seasoning if required.

5. Serve hot in bowls. Garnish with a slice of toasted baguette or croutons, sprinkled with grated cheese and chopped parsley. If desired, place bowls on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for 1 minute to melt cheese completely.