In between your weekends of sugar, animal fat, and alcohol-laden holiday festivities, on a quiet weeknight at home, when your body is clambering for some real nutrition, try whipping up this extremely easy soup that is clean, vegan, and packed with super nutrition. The pepitas, while delivering a complete essential amino acid profile, also give it that comfort food edge that will surely hit the spot on a cold winter night.

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green pepita soup

3 medium zucchinis, cut into large chunks 4 stalks of celery, diced 1 fennel bulb with some of its leaves, cut into chunks, woody part of the core removed 1 medium onion, diced 1 parsnip, diced 4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped Splash of olive or other cooking oil 6 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth for non-vegan), warmed 1/4 tsp. ground ginger (the spice, not fresh) 1/4 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tbsp. liquid aminos 1 lemon, zested and then juiced 5 cups fresh baby spinach 1 cup pepitas (hulled pumpkinseeds) Splash (or more) almond milk (preferably pure or homemade) (OPTIONAL) Salt & pepper to taste Heat oil in a large soup pot or sauce pan. Add the onion, celery, and fennel, and sauté until the mixture starts to become tender. Add the zucchini and parsnip and continue cooking until the zucchini becomes a little soft and well coated with the other ingredients. Add the warm broth and bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a rolling simmer and cook until veggies are cooked through and broth becomes translucent, about 20 minutes. Add the ginger, coriander, cumin, liquid aminos, lemon zest and lemon juice, and let simmer about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and add the pepitas and spinach, and give it a stir to incorporate. Ladle the soup into a blender about halfway full. Cover the blender pitcher, and start by pulsing at very low speed, to avoid the hot liquid from bursting out due to high pressure. Gradually increase the speed until you are able to completely purée the soup. Repeat until all the soup is puréed. Return the soup to the heat just to bring it up to a good temperature for serving. Add a splash of almond milk if needed to thin it out or give it an extra layer of creaminess.