I spend a great deal of my time in treatments talking about food. Initially, it’s to assess how well a patients’ diet is contributing to their health….or illness. Food should be fun and never a chore. Healthy food can be quick, easy and affordable and this little beauty of a soup is amazing on all these fronts. Plus, it’s supercharged ingredients will contribute to excellent health.
If you need a pick-me-up, something to shake off colds and sniffles or just a warm hearty meal with added punch then let me introduce you to ‘Good-bye Winter Soup’.
Now, I’m no Delia and I see cooking as an art rather than a science. I’m not going to labour over quantities, this is simple cooking by eye with rough amounts.
You will need:
- A butternut Squash
- A large carrot
- Vegetable stock of your choice – I used one of those new ‘jelly’ pots
- Olive oil or Raw Coconut Oil
- Coconut milk – optional as it is high fat!
- Red lentils – I used about half a cup full
- Quinoa – an excellent grain to be found in the ‘health food’ aisle. Please note it is pronounced ‘Keen-Wa’. It’s an ancient grain with a full complement of protein, the building block for the body. Again, I used half a cup
- Red curry paste
Putting the soup together is easy and goes as follows:
Heat your oven to 180°C.
Bring a pan of water (about 1 litre) to the boil and rinse the quinoa and lentils under the tap in a sieve.
Once on the boil add the lentils and quinoa to the pan and pop in the stock. If you are using liquid stock, reduce the amount of water in the pan. Cook the lentils according to their instructions. It is normally around half an hour at a slow boil. The quinoa will easily cook in this time.
Chop your required amount of Butternut Squash and Carrot into similar sized chunks. The Squash will cook quickest so you may wish to make the carrot pieces slightly smaller. Throw these onto a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place in the oven for twenty minutes.
When the veg is ready, simply transfer it to the pan of boiling lentils. I did not transfer the oil that was on the baking sheet to lower to calorie content.
Add a good tablespoon of Red Curry Paste to the pan. If you want it more ‘scorchio’ add two! Let the pan simmer for a further 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
After this time transfer the whole contents of the pan to a blender (or use a hand blende