Soup with a difference

Over the years, my kids have become used to unusual ingredients in their food.  In fact, I think they would be disappointed if all meals became normal and run of the mill. In particular, there's been many different versions of 'green soup'.  Green soup started one Halloween when I made them a vividly bright witches brew (pea soup) and they have patiently consumed an array of brews ever since.

My latest green soup concoction did create a moment of hesitation however, but not for long when they realised it tasted pretty delicious. Something they, or I, hadn't tried before - carrot tops.
Carrots are a weekly feature in our organic veg box that is reliably delivered to the house every Wednesday. At this time of year, the carrots all come in bunches with a beautiful head of long, green, wavy stems and dainty leaves. When we had a rabbit, these were never wasted, but now the gorgeous Fluffy has gone to bunny heaven, there has been no one to eat the leaves all up. Until now!
After a little research, I discovered that carrot tops are actually packed full of nutrients, many different to those found in the carrots themselves. According to the website World Carrot Museum (www.carrotmuseum.co.uk - you have to check it out. Who knew there was so much to know about carrots!), carrot tops are packed full of vitamin C, potassium and calcium as well as chlorophyll, the phytonutrient that gives the vivid green colour. Chlorophyll is a great source of magnesium, wonderful for cell function, heart and bone health, and is great at detoxing lymph nodes and the adrenal glands.

There is a rumour that carrot tops are poisonous, but no evidence of this. Carrots are part of the umbellifers family which includes fennel, celery, parsley - and hemlock. So I guess in the wild carrot tops could be mistaken for something more deadly. They've been used medicinally since the time of the Ancient Greeks and the US army mentions them in their survival handbook, so they can't be too bad!
This soup is so simple and super healthy (sorry for the pun!). It contains no added oil and only a few ingredients, so is cheap too. I only use organic carrot tops as I don't want to consume any additional chemicals that may be added during the growing process. And only use the actual leaves, not the stems as these are pretty woody and don't break down, ruining the texture of the soup - I had to make a few attempts to get this right.
So if you have a bunch of carrots lying around, or you've grown your own and don't want to waste the tops, give this a try and reap the benefits of all that greenery!
Carrot top and potato soup (from The World Carrot Museum)

750mls vegetable stock
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch carrot top leaves, washed and chopped
1 star anise
1 small potato, chopped
salt and pepper
Pour the vegetable stock into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the other ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes or so until the potato is well cooked. Leave to cool a bit, take out the star anise then pop in the blender or blitz with a stick until smooth. Reheat gently, add more seasoning if necessary and enjoy!

Fast food my style

Some weeks are just so busy that there just doesn't seem to be time to fit everything in, including writing blog posts, so this is going to be short and sweet!
Time is a real issue in so many peoples lives, trying to juggle work, home, families and hopefully fun.

Lack of time is often the reason people give for relying on processed ready meals or takeaways. And I'm no purist; the odd takeaway is great. But regularly relying on fast food carries not only a financial cost, but a huge health cost too.
Having to avoid dairy and yeast means, for me, that I cannot rely on processed foods as basically one or the other of these allergens appear in some form. So my food sensitivities have actually been a great blessing, as they have enabled me to make better choices, and eat real, nourishing food.  I'm also fortunate that I really love cooking, but there are times when I just don't have much time to spend in the kitchen.
That's where planning ahead comes in. Working shifts, every week for me is different. So thinking about what is happening each week, who is where and needs feeding when can get a little complex, but with the right planning I can usually ensure that the whole family gets a whole, nourishing meal every day, even when I'm not there.
As my kids get older, I feel it's important that they learn to feed themselves well, so sometimes they have to do it; my role is to ensure they have the right produce to hand and a reminder note of what they need to do!
I've found that one pot meals and stews have become a really important feature of our weekday meals - quick, simple and easy to reheat. You can also make it hearty and filling, essential for my growing giant-boy teenager! This particular hotpot is inspired by a couple of Jamie Oliver recipes. Roasting the sweet potato intensifies the flavour and enhances the texture; using passata creates a deeper, richer flavour in a relatively short period of time. This may not be as quick as one of Jamie's 15 minute meals (can you ever really cook one of his recipes in 15 minutes anyway?) but it can all be done and dusted in 30 minutes.
This dish is highly nutritious and positively bursting with fibre, which is essential for health; not only a healthy gut but a healthy heart too. To make it even more heart healthy, sprinkle some ground flaxseed at the end to add some essential omega 3 fatty acid. The sweet potato and beans are filling in themselves, but if you need to fill hungry tummies, then serve with rice, or even wholemeal pitta bread. And don't forget to add some green veg on the side too!
Red bean and roasted sweet potato hotpot

2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes
olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 packet passata/400g tin tomatoes
1 400g tin kidney beans
thyme
chilli flakes
salt and pepper
First, heat the oven to 180oC. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into medium sized chunks. Lightly grease a baking tin, pop the sweet potato chunks on it and roast in the oven until they start to brown slightly and feel soft to touch - about 15 minutes. In the mean time, heat a little olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onion until soft. Add the garlic for a minute but don't let it burn. Add the peppers, thyme and chilli flakes and sauté for a couple more minutes. Pour in the passata and mix well. Bring to boiling point then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the peppers are soft. Add the beans. By now the sweet potato should be cooked, so take out the oven and add to the pot, stirring well. Simmer for another 5 minutes until the flavours have perfused, season to taste and serve. Simple, tasty and whole!