Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Daikon soup

There's a little between-holiday break this week – we have a few days to clean out our bodies from any overeating and overindulging we may have done over the past weekend, before it (possibly) happens again next weekend.

This soup is good for clean eating. Plus it's soup (if you're living in a cold or wet climate right now) – warm and comforting.

Daikon is a big, long, white radish. Look for it in the produce section of your health food store or natural foods section of the grocery store. Peel it with a vegetable peeler, trim the ends and you can dice it as directed in the recipe.

If you have an immersion blender (sometimes called a stick blender), use that instead of transferring the soup to a standard blender or food processor.

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Daikon Soup

Purple * Serves 6-8

3 Tablespoons soy margarine

2 cups finely chopped onion

1/2 cup minced shallots

4 cups vegetable stock

2 long, large daikon radishes, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Melt soy margarine in heavy pot. Add onions and shallots and cook, covered, over low heat until tender.

Add vegetable stock and diced daikon radishes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until daikon is tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Pour soup through a strainer. Reserve the liquid and transfer the solids to a blender or food processor. Puree, adding the reserved broth (note – do not fill past halfway; use caution when blending hot liquids).

Return soup to pot and add more broth or water until you have reached the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.