Green juice is all the rage right now, so why not Green Soup?!

This sophisticated soup practically glows—a hint of what it can offer your body with its copious amounts of vitamins and minerals. The beautiful deep green color comes from cucumber, celery, watercress leaves, wheatgrass powder, and even avocado!

If you’re not familiar with watercress, it’s a leafy green that grows naturally around slow-moving waters. It adds a tangy, peppery flavor and contains more than 15 vitamins and minerals, with vitamin K by far being the most prominent, and vitamins C and A not far behind.

Watercress is also bursting with antioxidants, particularly lutein and zeaxanthin, which are highly concentrated in the macula of the eye—the part of the eye responsible for central vision and high-resolution visual sharpness. Lutein and Zeaxanthin are studied for their involvement in in supporting healthy eye and macula function because of their anti-oxidant capacity to fight free-radicals.

Note: English cucumbers are the smaller, sweeter, crisper cousins of our large “common” cucumbers. If you can’t find them, don’t sweat it—use regular cucumbers. Just make sure they’re organic since you’ll be using the skin (where most of the nutrition is).

Green Soup

Makes 2-4 servings

6 cups English cucumbers, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

1½ cups (packed) watercress leaves, plus ½ cup for garnish

¾ teaspoon sea salt

½ cup mashed avocado (about 1 avocado)

1 teaspoon freeze-dried wheatgrass powder

Freshly cracked black pepper

Use a blender to puree the cucumbers, celery, water, lime juice, 1½ cups of the watercress, and sea salt together—blend as smooth as possible. Use a large, fine mesh sieve to strain the mixture and create a vibrant green broth. Cheesecloth may also be used in place of a sieve; use a couple of layers to create a finer mesh.

Return the broth to the blender and add the avocado and wheatgrass. Blend until smooth. Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes. To serve, garnish with a few watercress leaves and a little black pepper.

Enjoy!

References:

1.  Seddon JM, Ajani UA, Sperduto RD, et al.  Dietary carotenoids, vitamins A, C, and E, and advanced age-related macular degeneration.  Eye Disease Case-Control Study Group.  JAMA.  1994;272:1413-142.

2.  The Eye Disease Case-Control Study Group.  Antioxidant status and neovascular age-related macular degeneration.  Arch. Ophthalmol. 1993;111:104-109.

3.  Berrow EJ, Barlett HE, Eperjesi F, Gibson JM.  The effects of a lutein-based supplement on objective and subjective measures of retinal and visual function in eyes with age-related maculopathy - a randomised controlled trial. Br J Nutr. 2012 Oct 19:1-7.

4.  Wong IYH, Koo SCY, Chan CWN.  Prevention of age-related macular degeneration.   2011 Feb.; 31(1):  73-82.

5. http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/watercress.html