food – True To Your Health Personalised Nutrition

RED LENTIL & HARISSA SOUP

SERVES 4-6

This soup is adapted from the The Hairy Dieters Go Veggie cookbook by Si King and Dave Myers, found here: https://www.hairybikers.com/recipes/view/red-lentil-and-harissa-soup

The harissa paste recipe is adapted from the recipe by The Minimalist Baker, found here: https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-diy-harissa-paste/

Quick to prepare, tasty and nutritious. Harissa brings warm spiciness to any meal, and you can adapt the amount you want to add dependent on the amount of heat you like. I added diced butternut squash for an extra antioxidant boost!

Prep 10 minutes. Cook 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp fine chopped coriander stems

1-2 tbsp harissa paste (see below – can be shop bought)

200g red lentils, rinsed

1 litre vegetable stock

400g can of tomatoes

Squeeze of lemon

1/2 tsp coconut sugar (optional)

Sea salt and black pepper

GREMOLATA

Zest of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Coriander leaves, finely chopped

HOMEMADE HARISSA PASTE: Toast the dry spices in a dry frying pan until aromatic then put all ingredients in a blender and blend. Keep extra in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for longer. You may need to add a little water to aid with blending.

10 dried birdseye chillis
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp caraway seeds
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
4 sun-dried tomatoes (optional – I used dried ones but you can use ones from a jar).
1 tbsp dulse (optional)

METHOD

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook it over a gentle heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then stir in the coriander stems and the harissa paste.
Add the lentils and stir until they are coated with the paste, then pour over the stock and season with salt and pepper.
Bring the stock to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes (and coconut sugar if adding) and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Stir and check the consistency of the soup – add a splash more water if it seems too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a squeeze of lemon to taste.
To make the gremolata, finely chop the lemon zest, garlic and coriander together until well combined.
Blend the soup if you want it smooth – the lentils will have broken down enough to thicken it, but there will still be some texture from the onions and tomatoes. Serve with the gremolata spooned over the top.

Tip: Add roasted or pureed butternut squash or sweet potato to the soup for enriched flavour and nutrition.

GLUTEN FREE POTATO PASTRY

WARNING: gluten free eaters keep this a secret as your non-gluten free pastry-loving partner and friends will eat your left overs when you’re not looking. I speak from BITTER experience!

Ever wanted to have your GLUTEN FREE pie and eat it?

Have you been looking for a pastry recipe that only contains a few ingredients, and DOESN’T include a load of binders and additives?

Well here it is!

This pastry is adapted from a Hairy Dieters recipe in their GO VEGGIE cookbook. It is delicious and counts towards your daily vegetables (if using sweet potato or parsnips -yes I know, that seems just weird, but try it and see) and is more nutrient dense (the buckwheat is a complete protein). Also, although I don’t advocate using great quantities of oil, the coconut oil used also has nutritional benefits. At Christmas time, I used this recipe (with the parsnips) to make mince-pies, and everyone enjoyed them. We all need a little comfort sometimes. Go on, treat yourself!

INGREDIENTS

275g floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or King Edwards, or parsnips, or sweet potatoes

40g coconut oil

80g gluten free buckwheat flour

1-2 tbsp plant milk (if using potatoes, otherwise you may not need this extra milk)

Pinch of salt

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6

First make some mash. Peel the potatoes/parsnips, and cut them into chunks of about 3 cm. I prefer to steam them to retain more nutrients, but you can boil them for about 10-15 minutes or until very tender. Drain the potatoes, then leave them to dry out. The drier they are the better. Mash until smooth (I use a food processor) without any oil or liquid, then leave to cool.

To make the pastry, rub the coconut oil into the buckwheat flour in a bowl, then add 200g of the cooled mash (if using white potatoes add a tablespoon of plant milk) and season with a touch of salt. Work everything together into a dough, handling it as lightly as possible (I do all of this in a food processor using the dough making attachment, but it is fine to do it by hand). If it’s too dry, add more milk, but only a teaspoon at a time.

When you have a smooth dough, roll it into a ball, cover with cling film and chill for at least half an hour before using.

TO MAKE PASTIES YOU WILL NEED:

2 quantities of potato pastry

50mls coconut milk from a tin

A pinch of turmeric

A filling of your choice

PASTY METHOD

Mix together the coconut milk and turmeric and leave the mixture to one side.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a circle with a 12-13cm diameter (about the size of a saucer). Use plenty of buckwheat flour on the worktop surface and the rolling pin to stop the pastry sticking while you are working it.

Take a circle of pastry and place a tablespoon of filling in a line along the middle of the circle, leaving a gap along the edge of the pastry. Brush the exposed edge of the pastry with the turmeric milk mixture, then bring the two halves together and seal, crimping the edges, Cornish-pasty style. Repeat to make all the pasties, then brush with the turmeric milk, and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake the pasties in the oven for about 45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. Transfer the pasties to a cooling rack to cool down so the underside of the pastry does not go soggy. Nice hot or cold.

Hope you enjoy, and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Are You On a Diet, Or is it a Fad?

I just had an experience that got me thinking …

My online food shop was delivered and the driver was helping me to unpack.

‘This is a lot of fruit and veg,’ he said.

‘Mmmm, yes it is.’ (In our house, we individually eat about 7-10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, which is the recommended amount for good health).

‘Are you on a diet,’ he said, ‘or is it a fad?’

‘No – nope, this is how we eat all the time.’

His jaw dropped.

I can’t read minds, but I could sense that he thought I was one strange cookie.

I thought it was funny as it happened, but now a little while later, I’m wondering why it’s considered ‘a fad’ (for ‘fad’ read ‘weird’) to have lots of fruits and vegetables as a regular part of your diet.

If my shopping had been full of processed foods – cakes, biscuits, crisps, white bread, sausages, ready meals etc – he wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. It’s certainly a sad state of affairs that a week’s worth of processed foods, to him, would be considered a ‘normal diet’.

I don’t think he’s alone in this. Over the years I’ve had lot of comments made on my food choices by cashiers as I pass my shopping through the checkout.

I wonder what’s happening to us as a society that we see foods containing lots of artificial additives and sweeteners as the norm (while some of the ingredients are not even recognisable as real foods), yet if we eat a diet of simple, fresh produce it’s seen as questionable behaviour?

If eating ‘junk’ is a normal way of eating, no wonder we are witnessing a rise in chronic diseases, including bowel cancer in the young. This has been found to be directly related to lifestyle factors (including ‘worsening diet‘), and is worrying for the next generations, who will pick up the eating habits of their parents. I wonder if eventually our young will even know what a fresh fruit or vegetable looks like? We already have a situation where many young people can’t identify what animal particular meat products come from. We are becoming increasingly dislocated from our natural food sources.

It’s definitely time we start rethinking the way we look at food.

I like the fact that I am in a position through my work to help people to learn the benefits of healthier eating and guide them to make better choices. It can take a little time to get your head around it, but often my clients are surprised at how easy it can be. Understanding the purpose of healthy eating is the main thing (people don’t realise there is a link between diet and issues such as insomnia, anxiety, joint pains, stress, fatigue, depression etc) which is where I come in as a nutritional therapist.

If you don’t eat a lot of fresh produce, why not make a start by adding a portion of fruit or veg to your day today?

Kitchenzest & True To Your Health – same ethos approached from two different angles.

Kitchenzest is the brainchild of Rochdalian ex-community nurse, Alison Maughan. She co-founded the healthy ready-meal company with her son one year ago, after giving up 20 years of nursing. Her view was to start something she believed in – to provide good value and uncompromisingly nutritious meals to the people of the local area.

Yesterday afternoon I had a meeting with Alison Maughan from Kitchenzest. Like me, she has a passion for health, eating foods for vitality, and improving people’s lives. We’re just approaching it from different angles, that’s all.

Alison makes uncompromisingly healthy ready meals (for individual requirements if necessary) which she decided to do after recognising a gap in the market, and her business has taken off locally. This tells me that people want to eat healthy food – they just don’t always have the time or energy to prepare and cook it.

From communications by text prior to our meet-up, I already knew Alison was a lovely person. In real life, however, she exceeded my expectations. She’s completely sincere and passionate about what she does, which always works for me.

We chatted like we’d known each other for years, and came up with some great ideas about how we can potentially work together.

I can’t wait for the next step.

The future’s exciting… so watch this space!!! 🤩 #kitchenzest #collaborate #healthyeating #innovate #youarewhatyoueat #eatwellfeelgreat #rochdale #localbusiness #inspire #nutrition #nutritionaltherapy #nutritionaltherapypractitioner

If you would like to learn more about Alison and her company, please click the hyperlink on her name/company name above.