My Nutrient Dense, Anti-Cancer, Lemon-Garlic-Soup Recipe

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer or you’re eating to recover from harsh treatments, it’s essential to give your body nutrient-dense foods. We’re talking garlic, greens, cruciferous vegetables, beans, fiber, antioxidants, and more. One trick is to make a giant SMOOTHIE every day, or chop up a giant SALAD, and now I’d like to add making a GIANT SOUP!!!

I’ve been making this soup for a while but recently added an avgolemono step at the end which took the flavor into the stratosphere (in my opinion). Avgolemono is a greek soup with egg + lemon that gives it a thicker, more savory broth (if you don’t want to do the egg step, you can skip it).

This soup takes ~20 minutes, it’s nutritious, delicious, and easy. While I’m a plant-based eater, this soup is *not* vegan (but it can easily be vegan or vegetarian by replacing the bone broth with vegetable stock). I make it several times a week.

These measurements are not precise, I like to toss things in, taste, and re-toss. So, play around with vegetables you like cooking and that you want to eat! But definitely don’t miss the GARLIC. I’m immunocompromised from cancer treatment, I try to eat garlic every day and this soup has a ton.

This recipe contains over 70g of protein, lots of greens (bok choy), and cruciferous veggies (kale, broccoli). It is LOADED with anti-cancer goodness (garlic, lemon, herbs, beans).

Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• Garlic (1 HEAD, i.e. 8+ cloves, or garlic to your taste)
• Bok Choy (1 stalk — white and greens separated)
• 32 oz of bone broth
• 20ml (4 teaspoons) of “better than bouillon”
• Whole wheat penne (3 oz) or “pasta of your choice” (chickpea, rice, etc)
• Kidney beans (15 oz, rinsed, drained)
• Broccoli (1 cup)
• Kale (1 cup)
• Cilantro (½ bunch) *OR* Parsley (½ bunch)
• 1 EGG
• ¾ lemon
• Seasonings (cayenne, herbs, parsley, salt, paprika)

DIRECTIONS

1. Mince 1 HEAD of garlic. (I usually grate 7 cloves fresh + add 1 or 2 tbsp of pre-chopped garlic) → set aside
2. Chop Bok Choy, separating the white stalks from green leaves (just cut in half) → set aside
3. Heat SOUP POT on medium. Add olive oil.
4. Sautee the white stalks of BokChoy (they work like celery) — 3 or 4 min
5. Add chopped/minced garlic — sautee for 2 min, until fragrant, with hint of browning
6. Add seasoning (I *sprinkle* a seasoning blend that contains cracked black pepper, garlic, and onion, lemon, parsley, and paprika, called “Santa Maria” from Kinder) → ½ tsp
7. ADD the BONE BROTH (I use chicken bone broth, you can use vegetable stock if you’re vegan/vegetarian)
8. Add “better than bouillon” — if you’re vegan / veg use veggie “better than bouillon”
9. Add spice (I use cayenne, skip if you don’t like it.)

This is the base of the soup. Everything we add next is to your preference!

The Greens!

I add Bok Choy leaves (that we cut in the beginning), 1 cup broccoli (or more), 1 cup frozen kale, and lots of chopped cilantro. (Broccolini works really well too! You can add any veggie)

I basically load it with greens.

The Fiber!

I add a handful (~3oz) of whole wheat pasta (penne is the best) or chickpea pasta (rice or farro could work too).

I add 15 oz of kidney beans (any beans that are already cooked/soft bc this is a 20 min soup!)

Let cook for 10 min, or until pasta is al dente! This lets all the flavors set in.

The Secret Sauce!

You can stop here, I make this soup all the time and stop here.

But if you want to INCREASE the flavor and texture, we add a little GREEK to it, inspired by Avgolemono Soup (a lemon chicken soup). Here’s how →

Once the soup has cooked for ~8 min, take a separate bowl and add 1 EGG and the juice of 1 small lemon (or ¾ of a large lemon). Whisk the egg and lemon together.

Take a little bit of soup and slowly pour soup INTO the egg mixture (so you’re taking some soup — a ladle — and pouring it in a separate container, this is to avoid egg-drop soup).

Do this a couple of times — approx 3 or 4 ladles worth — until you’ve slowly blended the broth into the egg/lemon mixture. Then, pour the entire mixture into the soup while stirring. Let cook for another 5 min.

Voila!

*About Me*

If you’re new here, I’m Taryn! I’m a screenwriter and journalist who was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer in 2019, specifically, high-grade small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, Stage 3C. With a less than 10% chance of survival, I went through surgery, chemo, and radiation — but also changed everything about how I eat and live my life. Now, I’m trying to help others with diet, nutrition, and information about preventing and fighting cancer using both western and eastern medicine. You can find me on Instagram [at]TheAntiCancerLife and TikTok.