Warming Winter Parsnip & Ginger Soup Recipe

A delicious warming parsnip & ginger winter soup recipe for you. Sweet parsnips & fiery ginger: Souper easy & souper yummy, you're welcome!

Method

• Heat a good glug of olive oil in a big saucepan over a medium-low heat and sautee the onion for approx 10minutes, until soft and translucent.

• Add the garlic, ginger, cardamom, cumin & cayenne and stir for a couple of minutes.

• Add in the parsnips and mix them in well before pouring in the stock.

• Season with salt & pepper and simmer the soup until the parsnips are very soft, approx. 15mins.

• Once the parsnips are soft puree the soup with a stick blender until smooth.

• Add the coconut milk and adjust the seasoning. Mix well and....

Ingredients (serves 4)

• olive oil

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 4-5cm piece of ginger, peeled & finely chopped

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 500g parsnips, peeled & cut into small cubes

• 800ml vegetable stock

• 400ml coconut milk

• salt & pepper

Voila, enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's book River Cottage Veg Everyday 

Yummy Granola Bars Recipe

A recipe for DELICIOUS, healthy, and super easy to make granola bars. No added sugar, or any other nasties just lots of super whole foods!  A perfect on-the-go snack. Enjoy!

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients**

• 1.5 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium/large bananas)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped 
• 1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

**YOU have total freedom to be a little creative with this - don't like almonds? use walnuts, pecans or pistachios. Don't have dried apricots? Use raisins, dried cherries, dates or figs. You get the idea :-)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Line a large oven proof tray with a piece of baking paper so the bars are easier to lift out.
2. In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
3. Place the rolled oats into a food processor (or blender on the lowest speed) and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped (but still with lots of texture). Stir oats into the banana mixture.
4. Chop (I used my magimix, but do not use a weak food procesor for the nuts) the almonds and apricots and stir these and the rest of the ingredients (seeds, coconut & cinnamon) into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined.
5. You're almost done! Spread mixture out onto the prepared tray. Press down until compacted and smooth out until even. 
6. Bake for 23-27 minutes (I baked for 25 mins.) until firm and lightly golden along the edge. Once ready, bring the tray out and leave to cool for a few minutes then carefully  lift out the whole granola slab with the baking paper. Place granola slab on a cooling rack for 20 minutes.
7. Slice into bars once they are cool and enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment if you like them!

Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows!

Pistachio Dukka Recipe to make you go mmmm!

This delicious Persian combination of nuts, seeds & spices creates a warming, nourishing aroma perfect as we move into Autumn. Make sure to have some yummy bread (go on, it's ok to have bread every once in a while!) ready to dip and go mmmmmm!

Ingredients:

• 120g shelled, unsalted pistachios
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds (I sometimes mix sunflower seeds in too. Optional!)
• a sprig of mint leaves (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

Method:

• Heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Scatter the pistachio kernels on a baking tray & roast in the oven for about 5 minutes or until they start to turn golden. Remove & let them cool before roughly chopping them. Heart shape is optional, but food always tastes better with a bit of love.
• In a small, dry pan over medium heat, warm the cumin and coriander seeds until they begin to release their aromas. Enjoy these aromas for a moment before transferring to a pestle & mortar. Crush them here until they are broken up but not too fine.
• In the same pan lightly toast the sesame seeds.
• Add the pistachios to the mortar and bash until they are well crushed in. Add the sesame seeds, chilli flakes, salt (and mint if using). You can leave your dukka like this (a bit chunky) and serve with a dish of olive oil - dip the bread in the oil and then into the dukka - or scatter over soups, pastas, grilled veggies and salads. OR for a more dip like consistency there's one more step:
• Transfer this mixture into a strong blender (I use my NutriBullet with the milling blades) and blend for a few moments until you have more of a dukka powder. Put this powder into a bowl and add olive oil (a little at a time) and mix until you have your desired dip consistency. Viola! 

Feel free to leave a comment if you like it, or discover any variations I should try!

*This recipe is a LahLah adaption of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's from his book "River Cottage Veg Everyday!"

LahLah's Zoodle Pad Thai

Zoodle (zucchini noodle) Pad Thai

If you've never tried a zoodle pad thai then you are missing out because, oh boy is it good! It's also conveniently healthy too ;-) 

I couldn't find a recipe I was happy with online, so I have been experimenting and am finally happy with the results!

The ingredients & recipe might look long, but it really is super simple to make and a lot of the ingredients are cupboard ingredients that you may already have, or will need to buy once and they will be there each time you make this (I'm sure you'll make it more than once, it's that yummy & easy to make!).

Ingredients: (feeds two hungry yogis)

Store Cupboard Ingredients:

• 2 tsp tamarind paste

• 3tbs fish sauce 

• a handful of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

• a pinch of dried chilli flakes

• a pinch of rock salt

• a few good splashes of sesame oil

Fresh Ingredients:

• 4 x zucchini (you will also need a spiralizer. I use this one. If you don't have one you could grate the zucchini on a large hole grater. same same, but different!)

• 1 x red pepper (or your preferred colour of pepper!)

• 1/2 a turnip (optional)

• 3 x spring onions

• 2 x red chilli

• a big handful of mange tout

• a big handful of coriander 

• 1 x lime

• 2 x big garlic cloves (or 3 small)

• a small piece of ginger

• and any other veg you fancy - I would add beansprouts too but I can never find them in Malta!

Method

• Finely chop your spring onions, red chilli and place to one side in a bowl together. Slice your mange tout into thirds and add to this bowl.  Roughly chop your corriander and set aside

•  Make your dressing: crush (or very finely chop) your garlic, grate your ginger and add the tamarind paste, fish sauce and the juice from half the lime to this and mix. 

• Crush the handful of peanuts and a pinch of dried chilli flakes and rock salt in a pestle & mortar until the peanuts become big crumbs. Set aside.

•  Sprialize your zucchini to make your zoodles. I use this very simple spiralizer.

•  Finely slice (julienne them if you want to be fancy) your pepper and 1/2 the turnip (if using). 

• Heat a BIG frying pan or wok on high heat with a few splashes of sesame oil, when it's heated add the zoodles, pepper and turnip to the pan. Lightly coat all in the sesame oil and fry for a few minutes. Don't cook the veg too much, just so it is heated through -approx 4 minutes. 

• Take the zoodle mix off the heat, mix in the spring onions, chilli & mange tout. Add your dressing and mix well. Plate your zoodles and then add some chopped coriander and a sprinkle of your peanut chilli crumbs to the top. Serve with a wedge of lime & extra chilli flakes if you like it hot!

The perfect blend of taste, crunch, spice, yumminess & health!

Enjoy & please feel free to comment if you like it or if you find any delicious variations! Find nourishing retreats on bookretreats.com x x xxx

Souper Summer Soup!

Just because it's summer doesn't mean it has to be the end of soups till the cold starts creeping in again!

Here's a souper easy & light summer soup I've been making recently:

Pea & Pesto Soup

serves 2 hungry soupers

Ingredients:

• 750 ml water
• 375 grams frozen peas
• 1 red onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• a squeeze of lime juice
• 4 tablespoons fresh pesto (for this you will need a big bunch of basil, 2 cloves of garlic, some pinenuts, olive oil and optional parmesan cheese. If you are feeling lazy you can buy the ready made FRESH pesto too, but making it yourself is SO much better :-) ) 
• chill flakes (optional)
• soft ricotta cheese (optional)

Method

Heat a deep pan with some olive oil and add in the red onions to soften them.

Meanwhile fill a kettle and put it on to boil. When it's boiled, & the onions have softened (about 5 mins) measure the amount of water you need and add it into the pan with the onions.

Add the frozen peas, salt and lime juice to the pan and let everything bubble together for 7 minutes.

In the meantime, if you are making your fresh pesto gather all the ingredients (basil, garlic cloves, pinenuts, olive oil and parmesan (optional)) and whizz them all together in a blender & voila you have pesto! It's much nicer and SO easy to make your own then to buy the processed stuff!

Once the 7 minutes have passed, check that the peas are cooked through. If they are ready you can blitz the peas and their liquid together either in a blender or use a stick blender in the pan.

Ladel the souper soup into bowls, putting two table spoons of pesto on top of each portion. I like to also add some chilli flakes and a dollop of soft ricotta cheese into my soup but this is optional.

Bon Appetito! 

This recipe is the LahLah adaptation of a Nigella classic.