Minestrone - A nutritionally stellar soup

Soups are an actual necessity of warmth and comfort when the weather is cold.
Sadly, not many soups tick all of the nutrition boxes, which may mean one may start feeling hungry a short while after eating them.
Luckily, minestrone is pretty stellar.
It brings together an array of whole food ingredients, as well as the right combination of veggies and protein-containing beans to create a nourishing and warming bowl of food that’s perfect in winter. Or any season for that matter.

It ticks the box for:
- veggies - 3 portions
- antioxidants - thanks to the herbs, veggies and optional drizzle of olive oil
- protein - hello beans
- it is packed with gut-supporting fibre
- flavour
- comfort

Before you go on to the recipe, there is a small disclaimer: if you are of Italian heritage, please look away now.
This version of minestrone is far thicker than regulations permit and uses many shortcuts to make cooking this delicious soup much easier.
If you aren’t fond of thick soups, then feel free to add more water.
I quite enjoy the consistency being somewhere between a soup and a stew.

To the recipe:

Ingredients for 4 portions

1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 bay leaf
1 little sprig each of rosemary and thyme
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
2-3 sticks of celery, blend it into a paste if you don’t like celery, otherwise roughly slice it
120g pasta of your choice, I used small flower shapes
2 tins of any beans, I used butterbeans and white kidney beans
1 tin of plum tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
1/2 small savoy cabbage, roughly sliced
Around 4 tins of water. I made a thick version of minestrone that was more like a stew so if you prefer a soupier soup, then add more water. Just remember: more water = more salt & pepper required.
Sea salt & black pepper to season
Olive oil for cooking & drizzling

Optional toppings (recommended)
Freshly chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese
Lemon zest from an organic lemon

Bread of your choice

Method

For a video explainer go here: Minestrone Reel
1. Grab a large pan.
2. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, the onion, garlic and herbs.
Turn the heat on to medium and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the carrot, celery and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Stir it every now and then to stop things from catching on the bottom of your pan.
4. Add the tinned tomato and a tin of water.
If you are using plum tomatoes, then break these up roughly by stabbing them with a wooden spoon as you are stirring the soup. It’s nicer to have a few chunks of tomato, so don’t go too wild with the prodding.
5. Add the 2 tins of beans and another 2 tins of water.
Stir well.
6. Add the pasta.
Stir well again.
7. Season the soup really well. Remember this is at least 4 portions and it contains a lot of water so it will need a decent quantity of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
8. Add the sliced cabbage and another tin of water.
9. Put a lid on the pan and allow everything to cook for 10 minutes.
10. Taste the soup to check the seasoning. Unless you went wild with the salt and pepper earlier then chances are it’s going to need a bit more seasoning. Season it, stir it and taste it again.
11. Serve with grated parmesan, lemon zest, parsley and chunky bread.

The soup stores well in the fridge for 3 days.
I haven’t tried freezing it.

Tahini energy bites (nut free)

These tahini energy bites are a delicious and nourishing way to get a boost of energy.
Tahini, aka sesame seed paste or sesame seed butter, is a great alternative to the commonly used nut butters.
As a bonus it contains relatively good quantities of calcium, magnesium, selenium and Vitamin E as well as zinc.

Now onto a little bit about energy.
It’s pretty easy to get a burst of energy, theoretically, we just need something sweet to power us.
BUT if we rely on sweets/ chocolate/ ultra-processed treats, that initial burst of energy disappears in sub 30 minutes.
That’s not all. Not only does that energy disappear, we are actually left with less energy after that 30 minutes than the energy we started with before the sweet treat. It causes an energy dip, or crash if you like.
The trick is to combine the sweetness with fibre, fats and protein from wholefood sources.
Fats, fibre and protein slow the rate at which energy is used, giving us a much more prolonged energy source and no crash.

A small note
I added orange zest and juice for a different flavour profile, but feel free to leave this out. The recipe works just as well without it.
Secondly, only use the zest of organic oranges. The conventional stuff is covered in antifungal agents that are not particularly great for human health.

Choosing tahini
The taste and flavour of tahini varies considerably.
The better jars of tahini will come from Middle Eastern stores, have a whiter colour and lighter flavour.
Supermarket tahini is a little bit hit and miss. Some can be a bit bitter, which means you may need to add extra sweetness to your recipe.

Here is how to make these tahini energy bites:

Ingredients to make 6(ish) energy bites

1 tablespoon of tahini
1 tablespoon of agave, honey or maple syrup
A pinch of cinnamon
3 heaped tablespoons of oats
1 tablespoon of desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon each of 3 different types of seeds, I used pumpkin, sunflower and chia. Ground flax and hemp seeds also work.
1 tablespoon of chocolate chips, roughly chopped - optional but dark chocolate does contain more magnesium
1 tablespoon of orange juice from an orange not a carton
The grated zest of 1/5th of an organic orange

Method:
1. Mix the tahini and agave and stir well until combined. You should end up with the texture of a runny nut butter. If it’s all stuck together, then add a tablespoon of water to loosen it.
Different tahinis will have different fat and moisture content so the water may or may not be needed.
2. Add the remaining ingredients.
Stir everything really well to combine it.
At this point, you should be able to press the “dough” together to form one mass. If it is all sticking together, then take a teaspoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball.
If the mixture is too wet and therefore just a sticky mess, then add more oats.
If it is too dry then add more moisture. Typically, aim to combine a teaspoon of tahini with an equivalent quantity of agave, mix into a paste and add that to the rest of your ingredients.

Herby potato salad (maybe the only potato salad you'll ever need)

This potato salad is stellar on both the nutritional and flavour fronts.
It’s the perfect balance of herby-ness, umami, creamy mayo and nutty spuds with a salty kick from the capers.
Use it as a side for pretty much anything. 

Nutrition note: Watercress is one of the most nutrient-dense veggies, except we don’t really eat much of it.
This recipe incorporates quite a large amount thanks to the reduction in volume achieved via chopping it finely.
A bag of watercress turns into a few tablespoons when shredded.
It’s utterly packed to the brim with feel-good vitamins & minerals. 
Similarly, herbs get you a lot of nutrition points too.
Here is a small overview of the nutrient content:

Watercress - Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, folate, Vitamin B6, iron, antioxidants
Parsley - iron, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, Vitamin A, biotin, folate, antioxidants

A couple of extra nutrition notes:
- A large proportion of Vitamin C is lost from food with cooking so this recipe capitalises on Vitamin C containing watercress and parsley by keeping them both raw.
- Cold potatoes (cooked & cooled), like the ones used in this potato salad are a superfuel for gut microbes. In a nutshell, when fully cooled, the carbohydrates in potatoes turn into resistant starches. We can’t digest these too well but our gut microbes thrive on it. Hence cold potatoes are fab for gut health.

Ingredients

300g cooked baby/ salad potatoes, I used the anya variety, left to cool completely.
30g watercress
10g parsley
5g other herbs (I used chive & oregano but anything goes)
2-3 tbsp of good quality mayo, I used Stokes mayo
10 giant capers - don’t skip this, it adds all the umami
A generous amount of sea salt and black pepper - don’t be stingey, it needs seasoning well

Method:
Put the watercress and herbs onto a chopping board.
Finely shred them until they reduce in volume by half. Here is a short video of how I did this.
Slice your potatoes in half. I sliced them length-ways because the herby goodness sticks to them more efficiently this way.
Roughly slice the capers.
In a large bowl, combine the spuds, herbs, mayo and capers.
Season this really well with sea salt and black pepper.
Stir it really well to combine it. You want to coat the spuds well.
That’s it.
Finished.
Enjoy.

Tahini hot chocolate

Cacao and tahini are both nutrient-packed ingredients that supply a whole host of otherwise hard-to-find minerals, such as magnesium and zinc.
I actually discovered this recipe at a cafe in Stockholm.
It was one of those “what in the name of hippies are we drinking now” moments but curiosity got the better of me so I ordered one.
It turned out to be a tasty drink whereby tahini added a nutty, creamy profile while the cacao gave it a rich chocolatey note. In summary, it is way more delicious than it sounds.

A word of advice: the quality of the ingredients you use will change this recipe quite considerably.
Basically, don’t be put off by getting this wrong in the first instance. If it’s not quite to your liking, then change the quantities of the ingredients. There is more on this below.

An even bigger word of advice: this is not a nighttime drink. Cacao is a stimulant, so it is much better to consume it in the morning or daytime.
Interestingly, some promising new research suggests cacao in the morning may help to reset our circadian rhythm.
Not that I needed an excuse for a morning hot chocolate, but in case you do then here it is.

Notes on ingredients:

Milk - the milk you use will change the drink. Oat milk is generally sweeter, dairy milk can add creaminess if it’s full fat and almond milk is more likely to be bitter.
Depending on your choice of milk, you may need to add more sweetness (dairy or soy) or less cacao (almond milk).
Cacao - cacao is the raw, higher-quality version of cocoa. It is unsweetened and generally quite bitter but it does contain more nutrients. It’s usually found in the health food or baking section of supermarkets.
My two favourite brands are Naturya and Aduna.
If your drink is not chocolatey enough, then you will need to add more cacao. To do this, mix 1/2 a teaspoon of cacao with one to two teaspoons of milk to form a paste and stir this in. If you try adding more cacao powder it’ll be clumpy and just float to the top.
Tahini - this is a sesame seed paste. You will find this near the spices or in the world food section of supermarkets. Alternatively, there are much nice quality versions in Middle Eastern stores.
The whiter the tahini, the milder flavour. The darker ones tend to be more bitter.
Sweetness - Unless I have really great quality honey then I generally opt for agave for sweetness because it is much sweeter, meaning I can use less. Maple syrup is another great option, however, it is much milder so you may need to add more to achieve the desired sweetness.
Xylitol is a good sugar-free sweetener option, just make sure it is fully dissolved.
Stevia drops work to a variable degree. Personally I find the taste of stevia a bit challenging.
Other ingredients - if you are into it, this recipe works well with a little bit of maca powder, a pinch of cinnamon, or 1/4 of a teaspoon of a mushroom powder such as reishi

Ingredients
1 mug of milk - literally pour the milk in a mug of your choice. Mine was approximately 250ml
2 teaspoons of cacao
2 teaspoons of tahini, reduce to 1 if you are using a non-white tahini
1-2 teaspoons of agave, honey or maple syrup

Method
Pour the milk into a pan and heat on a medium heat.
Put your cacao, tahini and agave in the mug and mix well. It will start forming a paste. This is a good way to avoid lumps of cacao.
Take a tablespoon of the warming milk and mix that into the cacao paste. It will loosen the paste and make sure everything mixes well when you pour the milk in.
Once the milk is fully warmed up, pour it into the mug.
Stir well to mix.
Taste it and adjust the flavour if required. (i.e. add more sweetness or more cacao if it needs a more chocolatey kick.)

Antioxidant turmeric and ginger shots

Whenever I feel below par, these antioxidant shots are the first thing I reach for.
Over the years, many of my nutrition clients also benefitted from (maybe “suffered” if we consider the flavour) these golden turmeric and ginger antioxidant boosters, all with a good outcome.

Here is the lowdown on antioxidants:
We have a steady supply of antioxidants inside every cell of the body.
These antioxidants are there to counteract anything that may be looking to damage our cells. This is fairly normal by the way, even the act of making energy from sugar creates unwanted “attackers” that are quickly neutralised by antioxidants.
Sometimes, however, our supply of antioxidants runs low, leaving us feeling below par.
The vast majority of our antioxidants come from food, especially from fruits and vegetables but every now and then a shortcut or additional top up doesn’t go amiss.
That’s where these turmeric and ginger antioxidant shots come in handy.

The intel on the turmeric and ginger shots:
Turmeric and ginger both contain a heap of potent antioxidants.
Sadly, they are pretty hard for us to absorb by themselves, especially curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric.
The good news is, I appraised the scientific evidence (read I did some epic nerding) to ensure the antioxidants present are as absorbable as possible.
There were two key findings:

1. The active ingredients in turmeric are fat soluble, hence the base of coconut milk.

2. Turmeric benefits from a little bit of extra help to be absorbed.
For this reason, you may have heard of the combination of turmeric and black pepper in supplements.
I’m not a fan of that combination. A little bit more on that here.
Luckily, quercetin, an antioxidant found in citrus zest is a great alternative that can similarly improve the absorption of turmeric. In addition, citrus zest contributes even more antioxidants in the form of citrus polyphenols. Just make sure that lemon is 100% organic and unwaxed, for obvious reasons.

Onto the recipe.
The ingredients are listed below but here are a few notes and storage options:

Turmeric root - larger supermarkets, especially Sainsbury’s and Waitrose tend to stock the root itself. It’s generally hidden next to ginger or fresh herbs.
Alternatively, check your local Middle Eastern or Asian store or order it online.
The recipe can still be made with turmeric powder, but it’s better with fresh root turmeric.
Turmeric powder tends to lose its antioxidant content over time. This is worth considering if you’ve left that jar of turmeric powder in your spice cupboard for years.
All in all, fresh turmeric root has a bit more going for it and has a milder (nicer) taste.

Ginger root - it’s pretty standard stuff. You get awarded extra points if you manage to get hold of organic ginger root because organic ingredients tend to have more antioxidants.

Coconut milk - this one is a biggie. Most tinned coconut milk contains a long list of unnecessary ingredients that extend to emulsifiers, thickeners and gums. Needless to say, these are not ideal but the good news is pure coconut and water-only coconut milks do exist.
Aim for one that does only contain coconut and water.
Clearspring and Biona are both brilliant options.

Lemon zest - as I mentioned before, please use organic, unwaxed lemon. Lemons, and other citrus fruit, for that matter, are usually coated with both synthetic wax and a couple of different antifungal agents. The latter are known carcinogens.

Storage:
Owing to how messy making these antioxidant shots is, my recommendation would be to make a larger batch and freeze it.
I tend to freeze them in a silicone ice cube tray and pop a couple of ice cubes every now and then.
Occasionally, I’ll defrost them by adding a little bit of hot water to the ice cubes.

Ingredients

1 tin of good-quality coconut milk
1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon 
A large chunk of ginger 
4 bits of turmeric root 
Zest of 1/2 an organic, unwaxed lemon 

Method
Peel the ginger and turmeric root.
Please use gloves to peel turmeric because it will dye your hands otherwise.
Put everything into a blender and blend for a couple of minutes until smooth.
If the coconut milk you are using is particularly thick then add a splash of water for ease. It’ll help everything blend better.
The liquid will keep in the fridge for 3 days.
Freeze in ice cube trays for longer-term storage.