Nourishing Recipes: A Simple Carrot and Orange Soup Recipe

It's the last night of April and by the time you read this it will morning and the first day of May*.  May brings with it the confirmation that we're inching just that little bit closer towards Winter. A time to nurture, build immunity and gather energy in preparation for the colder months ahead.

In May I'm usually wandering in parks and gardens in search of autumnal leaves flashing their colours just once a year; pulling out woollen knits (that aren't scratchy around the neck- a constant battle each year), trackies and hoodies (a must for comfort!), a large collection of scarves and gloves to take up residence, once again, in prime position in the cupboard; and thinking about warming soups and stews and the nights spent indoors in cinema's and bookstores sipping on that late night cup of hot chocolate with friends. This year I'm not so sure how much of this I'll actually be doing as I've moved and it's more tropical and so far there's been no orange or red leaves in sight. I'll have to wait and see what Autumn and Winter patterns emerge.

Two things I am certain about in May though are birthday celebrations - my sisters, and numerous other Gemini friends  and good times in the kitchen cooking and baking warming foods like soups, stews and crumbles.

Autumn is a favourite season of many a food lover and with it's abundance of fresh produce I tend to agree. My love affair with pumpkin is well under way. Other Autumn favourites starting to appear I'm keen to fill my basket with are carrots, onions, fennel, sweet potato for soups and apples, pears, rhubarbs and lemons for desserts.

I made this warming soup a little while ago when I had an abundance of carrots. It's perfectly matched to the season - warm, nourishing and your digestion. If you can source organic vegetables.. do it. Once you try a really good organic pumpkin you'll never want to eat anything else. I hope you enjoy x

What little comforts keep you cosy as the weather turns cold? And your favourite Autumn foods?

Carrot and Orange Soup Recipe

5 carrots
1/4 pumpkin
1/4 brown onion
2 garlic cloves
2 inch piece of ginger
2 tsp ground coriander
1 orange
1 tbsp coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil
4.5 cups of water or stock
fresh coriander
optional: goat's yoghurt

Rinse and lightly scrub carrots. Roughly chop carrots into smallish pieces. But not too small 2-3 inches. Rinse and lightly scrub pumpkin, keeping the skin intact (only if organic otherwise discard skin). Roughly chop into 2-3 inch size pieces. Dice onion and garlic.  Grate ginger.

Heat oil on medium heat in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, carrots and pumpkins. Sweat* on medium temperature with lid on until vegetables start to soften and glisten around edges, about 10 minutes. Add 4.5 cups of water, bring to the boil and simmer gently until vegetables are really soft - 20-25 minutes. Remove and add juice of orange. Blend to desired consistency. Serve in a well loved soup bowl with coriander and yoghurt if desired.

Serves 2

*Kitchen note: How to sweat vegetables.

Sweating vegetables is a great technique for drawing out the flavours of vegetables in soups and sauces. All you do is chop vegetables into evenly sized pieces (no need to be pedantic about the size here!), heat a little oil over medium heat and add vegetables for about 10 minutes, or until they soften and start to glisten. You don't want to brown the vegetables.

*Inspiration: Rebecca from Pomegranate and Seeds wrote a beautiful post april ends which inspired me to think about the end of one month and the beginning of another.

Nourishing Weekend Recipes: Spinach Salad with Salmon

It's been so hot here these past few weeks that I've been a little reluctant to cook anything that would add further heat to the house. I can only eat raw salads so many times though before I crave something cooked. I could never follow a raw food diet, my heart just wouldn't be in it.

Seafood, particularly fish, is a good healthy option for Summer, and we are lucky enough to have a fresh fish market just up the road. So with fresh salmon fillets, tomatoes and goats cheese on hand I typed these 3 ingredients into a search engine and voila the first recipe listed was a perfect match.  I love sweet potato and think it can be added to almost anything! so I added baked sweet potato and made my own dressing with lots of lemon.  If you have any favourite Summer recipes I'd love to hear them, I'm looking for new Summer flavours. And if you're anywhere near Sydney before Christmas go check out the first of Real Food Projects new projects...a Pop Up food store in Darlinghurst. What a fab way to connect people to the story behind their food. The project supports sustainable, ethical and local produce and is definitely one to keep an eye on next year. Happy weekend all x.

Spinach Salad with Salmon Recipe

Adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe. As you can see I haven't been very specific about quantities, but you'll get the overall idea.

1 skinless salmon fillet
baby spinach leaves
1/2 punnet grape tomatoes, halved
sweet potato, diced
goats cheese, crumbled
handful of pecan nuts, use your hands to break into smaller pieces

 

Dressing 

extra virgin olive oil
1/2 squeezed lemon juice and zest
small garlic clove, pressed
splash of vinegar
a few sprigs fresh or 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

 Heat oven to 200C. Place diced sweet potato on oiled baking tray, place in oven and bake for 25-30 mins. Meanwhile place salmon, tbsp oil and a squeeze of lemon on a sheet of foil, large enough to fold over to make a parcel fillet, seal tightly on an oiled tray and bake in the oven for 10-15mins. Once cooked, cool a little, and then cut salmon into cube shaped pieces.  Meanwhile, mix all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Mix all remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl, and toss through the dressing.

Serves 2

Nourishing Recipes: Warm Quinoa and Asparagus Salad

Quinoa, the wonder grain that isn't really a grain. Love it or hate it, quinoa has spread like wildfire and it's fast becoming a staple for the health conscious individual.  With the not so obvious pronunciation, 'keen-wah' ( and be sure someone will correct you if you mispronounce it), or keen-wahhhhh wahhhhh wahhhhh if you sit on the 'hate it, I don't see what all the fuss is about' side of the fence, a fairly high price tag and it being a food favourite amongst vocal health foodies ....well, I wouldn't be surprised if it's been coined the superfood for pretentious wankers. Ha! Reminds me of the recent frenzy sparked by Pete Evans' food choices such as alkalised water and activated almonds, featured in 'Day on a Plate' in The Sunday Life magazine.

Jest aside,  there are many really good reasons why I love quinoa...it's high in protein, it's actually a seed not a grain and is gluten free, it doesn't mess with my digestion, it tastes good and is super versatile. I'm still a little unsure on my position on the grain thing, to eat or not to eat. I do eat some grains, but I know there's lots of people out there with similar immune and chronic fatigue issues who have convincing reasons why they don't eat grains. Something for me to continue to ponder.

So how to prepare, cook and eat quinoa? I'm a huge fan of Wholefood cook Jude Blereau, and most of my whole food cooking tips come from her cookbooks. Quinoa Tip 1 rinse quinoa to remove its toxic, bitter coating. Tip 2 all grains (and quinoa) must be soaked before cooking. "Soaking delivers huge benefits to grain which all contain phytic acid in the outer layer or bran and enzymes that inhibit digestion. As little as seven hours of soaking in water at room temperature with some acid (lemon juice, vinegar, whey, buttermilk, yoghurt or kefir) encourages lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break these down. Another huge benefit is that lactobacilli break down gluten and other difficult to digest proteins, and in effect, pre digest the protein" Jude Blereau in Nova Magazine. For more info on how to prepare grains check out this extract from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD.

After soaking a cup of quinoa for a few days I ate it for breakfast with raspberries, coconut oil and almond milk and made this quinoa salad with seasonal ingredients, lemon zest for zing and slivered almonds for some crunch, served with grilled white fish.

Warm Quinoa and Asparagus Salad Recipe

1 cup quinoa, rinsed, soaked overnight at room temperature with 1 tbsp sheep's yoghurt

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch asparagus

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tsp vinegar (apple cider, or your choice)

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

large handful green beans

baby spinach leaves

handful of slivered almonds

1 tbsp mint, chopped

zest of 1/2 lemon

Optionals 

red onion, caramelised; goats cheese, crumbled 

Rinse and soak your quinoa with 1 tbsp of yoghurt (or other acidic food-lemon, whey) overnight. Rinse and bring 2 cups of water to 1 cup quinoa (note: you may find you only need to use half of the cooked quinoa for this recipe, depending on the ratio of quinoa to veg you like, and if you're serving it as a main or side dish. If so, save half some of the quinoa for another meal). Simmer with lid on for approx. 15 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. 

Tail and top green beans and cut in half. Chop woody ends of asparagus. Steam beans and asparagus for 1-2 minutes, just enough to gently cook, you still want them nice and crisp. Meanwhile turn your grill on to medium heat. Oil an oven proof tray with a little of the olive oil. Slice tomatoes in half, or leave them whole. Mix remainder of olive oil with minced garlic. Place asparagus and tomatoes on the oiled tray, and brush vegetables with the olive oil/garlic mix. Grill for approx. 10 minutes, or until tomatoes browning and starting to sink. 

Mix quinoa with a little extra oil olive, salt, pepper, stir through lemon zest and add the remainder of the ingredients. I didn't have any red onions or goats cheese on hand but I think they would bring a perfect balance of sweet and savoury to the dish. 

Serves 4.

Nourishing Weekend Recipes: Slow-cooked Moroccan Spiced Lamb with Carrots

Morocco has long fascinated me. The landscape and culture is so starkly different to my own that I can't help but be intrigued. Many years ago, propelled by this intrigue, I embarked on a Moroccan adventure, seeking new experiences and knowledge about the people, their land and their traditions and culture. Oh us humans are curious beings indeed!

With a small pack on my back, two changes of clothes and one of my dear childhood friends we spent one month exploring Marrakesh, Rabat, Essaouira and the charming town of Chefchaouen. I can still see the warmly coloured spices stacked up high along roadsides and in the depths of the souks. Imprinted and part of me now are are also the earthy colours of brown, yellow and red which is throughout the country, the desert backdrop to the city of Marrakesh, old men sitting in the streets smoking, and the vision of a group of women appearing along a desert road, their heavily decorated skirts shimmering brightly in the midday sun.  

Of course this is only one set of memories, there are others.... the confusion and fear I felt in a foreign land with little knowledge of the cultural 'rules', the usual (for me) set of stomach troubles that aren't really worth mentioning, the intense heat and getting lost on my own and vowing to go outside without my friend again. 

Food is a big part of the culture, with mint tea being shared many times throughout the day with family and friends. As in many cultures, meals are an opportunity to share time together, enjoying family and friends. This week the fragrant scent of cumin, sweet paprika and fresh coriander filled our house as I embarked on a Moroccan culinary journey of slow- cooked spiced lamb and vegetables. Slow-cooking will make  lamb easier to digest and very tender. The natural sweetness of carrots complemented the flavours of the spiced lamb just perfectly. 

If you're a non meat eater (and you found your way here somehow!) why not use the spice paste for baked pumpkin, cauliflower or vegetables of your choice in season.

Slow-Cooked Moroccan Spiced Lamb with Carrots Recipe

Moroccan spiced lamb

4 good quality organic lamb shoulder chops
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
2-3 tbsps softened organic butter
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

Warm moroccan spiced carrots

2-3 large carrots, cut in half and then in long pieces on the diagonal (or other vegetables such as zucchini)
2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
small garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
handful of chopped coriander, or to your taste
pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne, optional

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Place lamb in a baking dish with sides that will contain juices (at least 1/2 inch sides). Mix all ingredients. If the mix is too dry add more butter. Rub the mix on both sides of the lamb, you want the lamb to be well coated. If you have time you can marinade them in the fridge for an hour. Bake at 180C for 10 minutes,  turn your oven down to 150C, bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and enjoy the sweet fragrance of spices wafting throughout the house. 

Meanwhile prepare the moroccan dressing for the carrots. In a dish combine all the dressing ingredients. 15 minutes before your lamb is ready, steam carrots until just tender. Strain and mix with moroccon dressing. 

Voila! And for the finish,  here's a traditional mint tea recipe. I must of drunk at least 3 cups of mint tea daily in Morocco..there's always time to sit down for a chat with this sweet tea.

Serves 4.