Mals Lazy Tomato & Basil soup

Tomato & Basil Soup Garnished with Blackpepper & Basil

This tasty warming soup is filled with nutrients, and loaded with heart healthy Lycopene. This is a compound found in tomatoes, and the potency of it is actually enhanced by gently cooking the tomatoes for over 20 minutes. The onion and garlic also add to the cardiovascular benefits of this rich soup, especially if you set them aside exposed to the air for at least 5 minutes after chopping. This allows the oxygen in the air to bind with and further enrich the sulphur containing compounds that are involved in many of onions health benefits. Anyway, that's enough science, here's what you need...

Taste the green this St Patricks weekend

Why not celebrate St. Patricks day by consuming something nice and healthy, instead of green Guinness!!!

Okay, back to normal colour text, the green gives me a headache ;-)

 To make this a little easier for you, here are a couple of green recipes for you to try, one soup and one smoothie. Enjoy.

Green soup with Broccoli, Spinach and Ginger.

This easy soup can be thin or thick, depending upon the amount of water you add. Best of all, it cooks quickly.

 Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons diced onion
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cups fresh broccoli, cut up

Thai Curry, Irish Style

Winter is coming, as they say in the north. 

Sorry, I've been watching Game of Thrones again. Even so, the days are getting shorter and the evenings colder, so what better way to warm up from the inside out than with a nice hot curry.

Ingredients for 3-4 people.

1-2 Tablespoons of curry paste. Green is hotter, red less so, yellow is quite mild (usually).

2 cans of full fat coconut milk. (I've tried using low fat, it's crap).

1 small head of broccoli,

3-4 medium carrots.

1 handful of chestnut mushrooms

1 can of chickpeas(garbanzo beans)

2 handfuls of red split lentils

1/2 Teaspoon of corriander

1/2 Teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric.

1/2 -3/4 cup of brown rice per person

paprika and parsley to garnish.

Preparation: 

Cook the rice as directed on the pack. 

Chop the broccoli into florets, slice the carrots into rounds and batons, quarter the mushrooms(leave smaller ones intact).

Mix the coconut milk & curry paste in a large saucepan, and gradually bring to the boil. Add the coriander, pepper and turmeric, and chopped veg. immediately once it starts boiling.

When it comes back to the boil reduce the heat and add in the lentils, stirring frequently to stop the them from clumping in the bottom of the pot. Simmer for about 5 minutes then add in the chickpeas. Simmer for a further 2-3 mins.

Drain and rinse the rice, portioning it onto plates with a hollow in the middle. Ladle curry into the hollow. Garnish with some parsley on top, and sprinkle paprika around the outside of the plate.

Garlic Naan bread goes down well with a curry like this one. 

Substitutions:

If you have sweet potato, that can be swapped for the carrot, but cut into slightly larger chunks to prevent it from disintegrating during cooking.

Brown rice can take forever, or 45 minutes, to cook. If this is too long, couscous can be used as an almost instant alternative. Quinoa would be cooked in about the same length of time as the curry itself, or a little less.