Posts Tagged With: immune boosting

Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup with Yoghurt and Ras El Hanout – Fragrant, immune-boosting bowl of orange radiance

Posted on April 3, 2020 by leroy watson

Roasted Sweet Potato, Carrots, Cauliflower and Lentil Soup with Yoghurt and Ras El Hanout – Vegan, Gluten-free

A delicious, radiant bowl of orange goodness

A little spicy with a whole lotta immune-boosting properties

I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying good health. We’re ever sending out love and fortitude during these turbulent times. We’re going to keep bringing the healthy, vibrant recipes to support and nourish our bodies. Plus, for us, cooking is a great time to chill and find a slice of peace with pots and pans.

I created this soup to hit the sweet spot, a fine balance between deliciousness and nutritiousness, with the flavours of the souks, the spice markets of Morocco in mind. This soup is rich and sustaining, creamy and spicy in all the right places.

I wanted to add some of my (maybe your?) favourite veggies that you may have right now; sweet potato, carrot (beta-carotene superheroes) and cauliflower. Also adding warming spices in the Ras El Hanout spice mix (winter chills are still hanging onto Spring up here!), vivid turmeric and richly flavoured paprika. Then a bit hit of fresh ginger for even more immune-boosting ZING! We also roast the vegetables in this recipe to bring out their natural sweetness and flavour.

IMMUNE BOOST!!

Every ingredient here is a superstar

This is immune-boosting from all angles. The yoghurt is full of pro-biotics, helping our gut to stay well, 70% of our immune system is located in the gut. Which also likes lots of fibre and pretty much all of the ingredients are good sources of fibre.

This soup is just what we needed right now! Our bodies crave this kind of sunshine food, which I seem to cook a lot of when we’re back in the Beach House Kitchen (located on top of a mountain in Snowdonia, Wales, for newbies). Putting sunshine colours in our pans and on your plates really works. Eating food this colour means it’s most probably loaded with anti-oxidants and loads of beta carotene too. Edible rainbows of healthy happiness.

Food to keep us shining!

I used to eat thick, lentil soups, something like this one, in the Rif Mountains in Morocco. I settled down for a little while up there a good few years ago. The steaming pots of soup in the morning, with fresh bread and spices, was a great start to the day. I love soup anytime and would dearly like to go back to Morocco when all this blows over. The slow pace of life in the mountains of Morocco is inspiring me right now, patience and finding peace being key to riding this strange time out.

I also stayed with some Berber musicians in a small village in the Atlas Mountains and we basically played music all day, ate together around one big pot and occasionally picked cactus fruits, or went out to play with the goats and kids. It was a very (very) chilled life. Jane and I are mainly playing music, cooking and going out to say hello to the local sheep, so there isn’t that much difference really! Jane’s just remembered that she can play violin, which has opened whole new doorways in our jam sessions. Good time to find that one out.

Back in the kitchen….this is not a traditional Moroccan soup of course, but it’s inspired by some of my favourite spices from Morocco, where they have some of the best spice markets I’ve been to. Tucked away in souks, down tiny, winding alleys, they appear timeless. Not quite the same when you buy them in the supermarket, but if you can, buy your spices whole, then toast and grind them yourself. When I got back from Morocco, it took weeks for me to stop smelling like cumin. The spices are potent in those parts!!

Enjoy this soup and cooking it! I love having more time in the kitchen nowadays at home to really focus on my cooking, every aspect, from buying and preparing the vegetables, to washing up at the end, the whole act of making healthy, homemade food is important to us. It seems like every aspect can affect my life in a positive way, especially when we’re doing it with a smile on our faces.

Be well and say “hello!” below in the comments or over on Instagram or Facebook. We’d always love hearing from you. What country are you in? Cooking right now for us is like travelling without leaving the kitchen. I have my favourite Moroccan tunes on when I cook this, wash it all down with some ‘Berber Whiskey’ aka fresh mint tea with a pinch of gunpowder green tea in there. I haven’t worn my Djellaba in the kitchen yet, but it’s only a matter of time…..

Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup with Yoghurt and Ras El Hanout – Vegan, Gluten-free

Recipe Notes

Left thick aka not thinning with hot water, this makes for a nice daal also. I add a little fried garlic and more spices just before serving with rice or warm flatbreads.

Basically, you can use similar quantities of other veggies here if you’re short of any of these. I made this again today (the photos are from a few days ago) and I popped a roasted red pepper in there, which was delicious! The lentils and spices make for a great soup base.

Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup with Yoghurt and Ras El Hanout – Vegan, Gluten-free

The Bits – For 8-10 bowls

7 medium carrots

3 medium sweet potatoes

350g/1 small cauliflower

200g red lentils

3 heaped tbs fresh ginger (finely chopped)

1 large onion (diced)

2 tbs ground turmeric

1 1/2 tbs ras el hanout (or other spice mix like garam masala or baharat)

1 tbs sweet paprika

2.5 ltrs vegetable stock

200ml unsweetened soya yoghurt

1-2 tbs cooking oil (I used cold pressed rapeseed oil)

Sea salt

To serve

Chopped parsley and chillies

Soya Yoghurt

Lemon Juice

Do It

Preheat an oven to 190oC.

Roughly chop your sweet potato, carrots and cauliflower. Place the vegetables onto a large baking tray (or two), cover lightly with oil and a little salt. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised, turning them once during cooking.

In a very large saucepan, the very biggest one you have. Warm your oil and then add the onions and ginger, fry for 4 minutes, before adding the turmeric, paprika and ras el hanout, stirring for a minute.

Now add the lentils and stock, bring to a rolling simmer and leave to cook for 20 minutes. Until the lentils are soft. Add the roasted vegetables and yoghurt, blending all together until smooth using a stick blender. Thin the soup with hot water if needed, have a boiled kettle on standby, for the soup, or tea?

For serving – Stir a little lemon juice into some soya yoghurt. Drizzle over the soup and swirl if you’d like it to look a bit fancy. Scatter herbs and chillies.

Enjoy warm, with a stack of flatbreads.

Foodie Fact

Sweet potatoes bright orange colour comes from the beta carotene content, beta-carotene makes Vitamin A, which makes you see in the dark and through brick walls, like a superhero. It will also give you the ability to scale tall turnips and dodge banana bullets….

Also, sweet potatoes are a good sources of vitamin C, fibre, anti-oxidants (which keep us from rusting), and loads of minerals like manganese, potassium and even copper sneaks in there.

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We’ll be posting more pictures of the Beach House Kitchen soon; the mountains, garden and wild nature of the Snowdonia mountains. The sun has been shining and the sunsets have been dramatic. The atomic mandarin has done us proud. What a peach!

OUR TOP 5 IMMUNE-BOOSTING TIPS ARE COMING SOON!

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Soups, Vegan | Tags: immune boosting, snowdonia, soup, vegan food, vegan recipe | 3 Comments

Sending Good Vibes! BHK news and how we’re keeping well

Posted on March 23, 2020 by leroy watson

Nourishing, simple, vegan cooking skills and knowledge is so important at times like this, giving our bodies and minds the good fuel and flavours they need to be healthy.

All of our plans and work for the year are cancelled, which feels both expansive and daunting, sometimes at the same time. We’re sitting, chilling and breathing it all in at the minute. Seeing what arises and getting prepared for a lengthy spell of uncertainty and big changes in the way we live. Most of all, we’re staying at home!

Spanish Dreams

We were moving to Spain a month ago and were in the final stages of buying a olive/ fruit farm in rural Spain. A little slice of paradise, tucked away in the mountains of Murcia, where we could grow Mediterranean crops and make our own olive oil and wine. I would be cooking homegrown in an outside kitchen and it even had it’s own spring. We were over the moon to have found such a place, but it turned out that this idea was affected by Brexit and then, BOOM, Coronavirus lands and the rest of our year is turned upside down, shaken, then plonked back down looking bewildered, exasperated and a little afraid. I’m sure you know the feeling.

We know that what is to come will be tough, for us all in a variety of ways, each of us will experience uncertainty, loss and fear in one way or another. We realised we are in a very privileged position and feel deeply for those who are suffering globally from health issues, themselves or within families, friends and communities. The poorest in the world are the first and worst to suffer. Also, those who have pressing financial worries and are trying to run businesses and have uncertain work futures. We especially feel and offer fortitude and support to healthcare and charity workers, as well as other essential, frontline workers. Keeping the systems going that support our societies and our most vulnerable. We hope you are well protected, healthy and rewarded for your bravery and incredible efforts.

Compassion, community and kindness will get us through.

Support local

Big shout to our local organic farm superheroes, Tyddyn Teg, who will be supplying ourselves and the local community with organic veg throughout the year. Re-focusing on local produce and small businesses, growing our own food, simplifying and living a more sustainable life is more relevant now than ever. If you have the means, distributing and investing money locally and to small businesses is so important.

We are well!

Jane and I are well.

I am sure many of you are being creative and flexible in the way you’re looking at the future. How can we adapt, stay safe and earn a living in these times? We shall see, but good energy and positivity will go a long way.

It would be awesome to communicate and we invite you to be part of our positive on-line communities:

Our Faceboook vegan cooking group is here

Let’s eat well! Share good vibes and tasty treats! Develop grounding rituals and healthy habits. We hope the BHK is somewhere you can escape to for a while, topping up on happiness and inspiring recipes.

Looking out towards Ireland, across the Irish Sea. I love this rock formation, it looks like an ancient settlement (with a view!) and makes me feel connected to the land and my impermanence in this majestic landscape

Take good care

At this time, we feel it’s essential that we focus on self-care. Understanding how we can find balance, peace and good health in our lives. We ever wish to take you on that journey in a holistic way, feeling that good health isn’t just good eating, but good movement, good breath, good mentality, good connections with nature and others, good vibes from the heart and lots of love and positive energy.

Self-care beginning with the heart, opening up to love. We feel that having clarity and peace of mind will help us make good decisions, for us and those around us.

The world may seem to be spinning out of control but nature tells us otherwise. Beautiful weather and the sights and smells of early Spring are in the air.

Good health does not need to be complicated, and even with extended self-isolation and uncertainty, we can still find peace. Good health does not need to cost anything, we have our mind and bodies, these are the only tools necessary to unlock vitality and wellness. With regular practice, discipline and good intentions, the techniques below can transform our lives!

We can exercise well in a small space. Check out our friends Complete Unity Yoga and their guide to starting a yoga practice at home:

Find Peace and Calm – Yoga at home

We also love these yoga sequences

Also, here are some relaxing and empowering breathing techniques with that dude, Mr Wim. Boost your immune system and find peace:

Life Changing Breathing techniques

Meditation is an excellent practice to calm the mind and boost the immune system. Jane’s favourite is Tara Brach:

Meditation practice

Breathe in, smile. A beautiful meditation here

Fermentation is a delicious way of preparing and preserving food, as well as boosting our health and immune system in general. We have fermenting recipes here and our favourite fermentation website is Nourished by Nature:

Fermenting Foods – Immune system support and health

You’ll find most of our recipes, except the most recent, right here. Plenty to choose from:

Simple, healthy vegan recipes from the BHK

We can also put you in touch with excellent therapists and healers; herbal, homeopathic, nutritionists and much more.

Our plan

We don’t have one! Things are changing too quickly at the minute. We’re getting prepared and trying to be as proactive as we can. Staying at home and educating ourselves about the situation at hand. We’ll be regularly turning our thoughts inwards and reflecting, adapting, finding balance, allowing creativity to flow and embracing what we have and the opportunities presented. Staying alert and aware, asking questions. Taking regular breaks from phones, social media, news and the like. Going outside, spending time in nature.

We’re focusing, as I’m sure you are, on our local situation, supporting family, friends and the local community. What we can control, we try our best in, what we cannot, we are aware of, but let go.

So, how are you feeling?

Can we help and support you at this time?

What kind of foodie things would you like to see us doing?

So much beauty, even in the smallest parts and details of nature.

We light a candle for peace after sunset each evening and you’ll all be in our thoughts and prayers. This BHK community means a lot to us and you’ve all contributed in making our lives a brighter and more fulfilling place to be. Thank you.

Wishing you all good health, safety and fortitude!

Another storm is here, but they always pass.

Peace and Love,

Lee and JaneX