Spicy Mexican soup

Winter-warming soup that is so good with grated cheddar or crumbled feta. Add extra harissa or dried chill for more spice and eat with homemade tortilla chips, or cheese on toast.

ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 2 red peppers, quartered and sliced 

• 3 small cloves garlic, chopped finely 

• 3 carrots, chopped

• 1 tsp ground cumin  

• ½ tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp harissa, ground blend or paste

• 250g red lentils, rinsed really well  

• 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes

• 400ml coconut milk 

• 1 x 400g tin black beans

• 1 tsp sea salt 

• Juice of ½ lemon

• Handful chopped fresh coriander, optional

• Handful of grated cheddar or any other cheese

• Blob of Greek yoghurt

method

• Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large pan and fry the onions, peppers and carrots gently for 10 minutes.

• Next add the garlic, stirring well. Cook for about a minute.

• Now add the harissa and ground spices, stir well to warm through and release flavours.

• Next add the rinsed lentils, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk.

• Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the black beans, plus water. Cook for another 15 minutes, but add a little extra water if needed.

• Next stir in the salt, lemon juice and coriander if using

• Serve with a blob of Greek yoghurt - coconut for vegan option

Red pepper, white bean and lentil stew

Is it a stew, or is it a soup?! Who knows! But it’s tasty, chunky and total veggie comfort food 🌱

I love this stew/soup (stoup?!) in a big bowl on its own, or equally with a chunk of buttered sourdough, or with brown rice and steamed greens - it’ll go further if you have it this way too. A blob of Greek or vegan coconut yoghurt is lovely on top.

I always try to add lots of gut-friendly fibre (not just for bulking, but to feed your good microbes!) in my cooking, plus I eat a lot of veggie food, so I like to make sure that there is also plenty of protein too - in this soup the lentils and beans will give you loads of both!

Delicious as a comforting dinner, or perfect for lunch - you decide!

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 2 red peppers, quartered and sliced 

• 3 small cloves garlic, chopped finely 

• 1 tsp cumin seeds 

• 1 tsp smoked paprika or pimentón

• 200g red lentils, rinsed well  

• 1 x 400g tinned tomatoes

• 200ml coconut milk (freeze the rest for next time)

• ½ veg stock cube (I used Kallo low salt)

• 1 tbsp rose harissa  

• 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans

• 1 tsp sea salt 

• Juice of ½ lemon

• A small handful of chopped parsley

Method

• Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large pan and fry the onions for 8 minutes.

• Next add the red pepper for a further 5 minutes and then the garlic, stirring well. Cook for another minutes or so.

• Now put in the smoked paprika and cumin seeds and stir well to warm through and release their flavours.

• Next add the rinsed lentils, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, 1 ½ tins of water and the rose harissa.

• Simmer for 15 minutes with a little gap in the lid (add a little extra water if needed to loosen) then add the drained cannellini beans. Cook for about 5 minutes.

• Next stir in the salt, lemon juice and parsley

• Serve with a blob of yoghurt - coconut for vegan option

Leek, potato & white bean stew

Is it a stew, or is it a soup?! Well, I’ve gone with stew, but either way, here’s a nice hearty dish to try out now it’s getting a bit colder. I mean, cheese and potatoes - what’s not to like!? I can even get the kids to eat this with lots of cheddar or parmesan on top. It goes without saying that they pick the kale out though! Eating plenty of potatoes is a great way to feed your gut with prebiotics to encourage diversity in your microbiome. So what you waiting for? Get cooking!

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 25g butter

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1.2kg potatoes, peeled 2cm cubes

• 2 sticks celery, chopped finely

• 2 large leek, halved 1cm slices

• 2 garlic cloves, grated

• ½ stock cube (I use Kallo veggie low salt) + 1l boiling water

• 1 parmesan rind, optional

• 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans (or any you prefer)

• 2 handfuls of chopped kale (tough stalks removed)

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

• A handful of grated extra mature cheddar or parmesan and parsley to serve

Method

• Melt the butter and then add the oil, warming for a minute.

• Fry the potatoes gently for 15 minutes and then add the leeks and celery, cooking for a further 15 minutes.

• Add the garlic, stir well and cook for a further few minutes.

• Add the stock, parmesan rind and cannellini beans, simmering with the lid on for 25 minutes.

• Add the kale and cook for 5 minutes or until soft.

• Next add the mustard , vinegar, salt and black pepper, stirring well.

• Serve in bowls with a big handful of cheddar or parmesan, plus herbs if you’re using them.

• A wedge of warm sourdough and salted butter is also divine with this stew.

tip

• A note about stock - if I’m using a cube then I always increase the recommended amount of water (usually I double it), otherwise you end up tasting the stock cube rather than it being a savoury back note. In this recipe I have kept the stock ratio very low as it would dominate the delicate flavour of the leeks.

Mushroom bourguignon

Nothing says autumn like a warming one pot dish and this is a great one to make while mushrooms are in season at this time of year. In normal non-Covid times (remember those?) I host regular vegetarian and vegan supper clubs in Leeds, but as I’ve had to press pause on those, I thought it would be nice to share a few of the recipes from the nights, so you can make them at home while we’re all locked down. If you fancy checking out some of the other menus and photos they’re all in the ‘Events’ section.

This was my main course at last October’s pop up and I served it with served with pomme purée and roasted squash. It would also be lovely with roasted or mashed sweet potato and any green veggie you can think of - we had roasted broccoli with ours last night, but steamed green beans would work well too.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 red onion, chopped finely

• 1 stick celery, chopped finely

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 1/2 leek, chopped finely

• 750g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

• 1 large garlic clove, grated

• 2 tbsp tomato puree

• 150ml red wine

• 1 vegetable stock cube (Kallo low salt)

• 150g dried puy or green lentils

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

• 2 tsp nutritional yeast

• 400ml water

• 1 1/4 tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat 1 tbsp rapeseed oil in a large pan. Cook the onions, celery and carrots for 20 minutes on low, stirring regularly, before adding the mushrooms. Turn the heat up a little and cook for a further 10 minutes.

• Stir in the garlic and warm through for a minute or so before adding the red wine, simmer for 5 minutes to cook off the alcohol.

• Then add the tomato puree, stock cube, lentils, bay leaf, thyme and water.

• Cook with lid on for 30 minutes then stir in the nutritional yeast and sea salt.

• Serve with a good grind of black pepper.

Tip

• If you’re using green lentils rather then Puy, make sure that they are small ones that stay relatively firm as the larger tend to break up and are better for dal.

• If you don’t have nutritional yeast, it’s not the end of the world, I think it adds a nice subtle savoury note, but you could substitute with a little marmite instead. Go easy though as it has a stronger flavour.