Vietnamese chicken noodle soup

This yummy soup is inspired by my travels, I love broths especially if they're bursting with lot's of spice!  The important part of this recipe is the stock, you want it to pack a punch, so don't hold back! All the veggies are sliced super fine and added raw, so it's crucial your stock packs a punch! 😀. The trick is to have all your veggies ready prepared before you serve, it helps having a mandolin, but if you don't have one, view it as good practice for your knife skills! 

The recipe.... Serves 6 hungry people

Stock

 6 chicken thighs

1 carrot

1 bulb of garlic 

a large knob of ginger

3 chillies- kept whole

3 sticks of lemongrass bashed with the back of your knife

2 celery sticks halved 

1 leek halved 

2 onions halved

2 cinnamon sticks

10 cardamom pods

1 tbsp of coriander seeds

3 star anise

3 tbsp of soy sauce 

To finish.....

Rice noodles, cooked 

Chopped chilli 

Coriander leaves

Finely chopped ginger

Toasted sesame seeds

A handful of bean sprouts

Chestnut mushrooms- finely sliced

1 carrot sliced into very thin strips

1 courgette sliced into thin strips

Brocolli broken into baby florets

Soy sauce to serve, drizzled ontop! 

1. In a stock pan place all your ingredients and cover with cold water. 

2. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat so the water is just simmering.

3. Cover and leave for at least  2 hours ( I sometimes make the stock the night before and leave all the ingredients to infuse in the fridge) . 

4. Drain the chicken ( reserving the stock). Set aside to cool.

5. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, take the meat off the bone and reserve for the soup. 

6. Taste the stock for seasoning, add the soy sauce and adjust to your personal tastes. 

Now you ready to plate... 

 1. Make sure your stock is hot, so re heat if needed. 

2. In warm bowls add your raw veg. I like to keep them together, so a little heap of courgette, a little heap of bean sprouts etc 

3. Nest add the warm rice noodles, and shredded chicken .

3. Cover with the stock

4. Sprinkle over sesame seeds, chopped chilli, chopped ginger and coriander. 

Spiced butternut soup with cashew and basil pesto

Soup is another one of my go to foods in cold weather, I like to pimp mine up with all sorts of toppings, lentils,  roast chickpeas, nuts, seeds or in this case a simple basil and cashew pesto. I like my flavours big and bold and love using as much warming spice especially in winter.  At the moment Tumeric is my go to spice, I have turmeric  tea when I wake ( before a coffee) and then cook with it when I can. Tumeric acts as an anti inflammatory and is great to boost your immune system, great news at this time of year!! Also don't by pass sweating of your spices in butter, just make sure it's the highest quality you can afford, been an Irish girl I'm a fan of Kerrygold.   Ideally I'd use fresh tumeric as it impacts a much earthier flavour, but in this case I used dried and the results were 'bang tasty' according to my harshest critic. 

Spiced butternut soup, with cashew and basil pesto

1 large butternut squash

3 sweet potatoes

2 leeks, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced

3 cloves of garlic crushed

2 chillies chopped finely 

4 large vine tomatoes

2 tbsp of tomato purée

4 tsp of  cumin seeds

2 tsp of tumeric

1 tsp cinnamon

2tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper

Sea salt

Black pepper

3 tbsp of organic butter 

1.5 ltr of Chicken stock ( ideally home made) 

Basil and cashew pesto

A large handful of basil

1/2 a garlic clove crushed

1/2 a cup of Arbequina olive oil

3 tbsp of toasted unsalted cashews

Parmesan to taste 

Salt and pepper to season 

Garnish with....

Wilted spinach

Pommegranate seeds

Crumbled feta 

Toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Basil and cashew pesto 

1. Preheat your oven to 180oc, line a baking tray.

2. Peel the butternut squash and sweet potato and dice into 2cm cubes. Place in a large bowl and rub through some olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

3. Place on the baking tray and bake for around 50 mins or until soft.

4. At the same time you can roast your cashews until golden brown ( around 10 mins) 

5. Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and melt your butter, add the garlic and chilli. Sweat the chopped leek and carrot  for 5 minutes then add all the spices. Continue to cook till the spices become aromatic another 5 minutes. 

6. Add the tomato purée and quartered tomatoes, stir together and then cover with a lid, sweat on a low heat for 20 mins.

7. When the sweet potato and butternut squash is cooked add to the saucepan and cover with chicken stock. 

8. Blitz together using a blender until you have a silky smooth consistency, check for seasoning it should be warming and earthy. If your happy place in a saucepan and keep warm.

9. Finally for the pesto, in a blender place the basil, garlic, cashews and Parmesan, pour in half the olive oil. Turn on the blender and gradually pour in the remaining olive oil till you get the correct consistency ( it can be chunky or smooth depending on your tastes) Season with salt and pepper. 

10. Over a high heat wilt some spinach in a saucepan, season and add a squeeze of lemon juice. 

11. Finally to serve... Place your soup in bowls, add the wilted spinach, drizzle over the pesto and scatter over your remaining ingredients.  

Raw chocolate mousse with papaya, blueberry and coconut.

 

Papaya reminds me of my holiday in Bali. I ate it at every opportunity possible! Of course nothing bought here ( in rainy Ireland at the moment) can compete with a tropical fruit grown on the island and then eaten on a white sandy beach.... I wish! 

 However with  storms forecasted and more grey days I wanted something to bring a bit of sunshine, even if just to my plate. This little 'mousse' is adapted from one I saw in a Daylesford organic article it feel's indulgent but acts like a healthy comfort food. Here's the recipe...

Chocolate and chia mousse, with papaya, blueberry and coconut 

180g almond milk

25g of chia seeds

65 ml orange juice 

85g of dates, pitted

1/2 tsp of vanilla paste 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

35 g cacoa powder

Toppings

Goji berries

Coconut flakes

A handful of blueberries

1/2 papaya diced

Raspberries to garnish 

Grated 85% dark chocolate ( I use Green and Blacks) 

1. Place the chia seeds,  almond milk and orange juice in a blender and allow to soak for 30mins. ( this saves with washing up later) 

2. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz together. Depending on the cacao powder you might need to add more almond milk/ orange juice to get a mousse like consistency.

3. Place into bowls and refrigerate for 30 mins.

4. Serve with the toppings scattered ontop and a generous grating of dark chocolate! 

Breakfast smoothie bowl...

This Autumn I spent a month travelling around Bali, and smoothie bowls were all the rage especially in all the cool surf towns. I love  them, packed full of vitamins, they feel indulgent but are super healthy. I always base mine around avocado and then add different flavours. They keep you full for ages and as they're wheat and diary free so they're great for anyone with allergies. 

Bluberry, coconut, avocado and almond smoothie bowl 

Serves 2

1 avocado

1 Bananna

2 cups of blueberries ( fresh or frozen) 

8 almonds

1 tsp of cinnamon

11/2 cups of coconut water ( or enough to get a consistency that's thick enough to spoon into a bowl) 

1 tbsp of coconut oil 

1/2 tsp of vanilla 

Toppings....... 

Chia seed

Goji berry

Pommegranate

Coconut flakes

Blackberry 

Blueberry

Raspberry

1. Slice open your avocado remove the stone and place the flesh into a blender.

2. Add all other ingredients apart from the coconut water.

3. Pour in half the water and blitz and then gradually add the remainder until you have a desired consistency, ( think yogurt consistency).

4. Place in a bowl and scatter over your toppings. Bon app! 

Brilliant spiced roast onion squash, pomegranate and chimichurri dressing

I'm in love with winter squash, it's wholesome being full of alpha and beta carotene and for me it's my go to winter veg, roasted in the oven it has such a lovely sweet flavour. It loves herbs and lot's of spice, so it's a great veg to get creative with. 

I wanted to make a simple side to go along with some steaks, and decided on squash with chimichurri  (the classic Argentinean sauce commonly served with steak).  The results were a winner for me, served with a side of buttered kale it's a pretty magic meal... So here's the recipe

Spiced roast onion squash, pommegranate and chimichurri

2 large onion squash

1/2 pommegranate

1 tbsp of cumin seeds

1heaped teaspoon of ground coriander

1 tsp of cayenne

1tsp of chilli flakes

1/2 tsp of all spice

3 cloves of garlic 

Salt

Olive oil 

Chimichurri

1/2 cup of red wine vinegar

1 tsp of salt

4 garlic cloves minced

1 shallot very finely chopped

2 chillies chopped ( I use seeds too, as I like the heat)

1/2 cup of coriander chopped

1/4 cup of parsley chopped

3 tbsp of oregano chopped

3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 190oc.

2. Slice your onion squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash widthways into 2cm lengths.

3. Place in a bowl and add the spices, garlic, salt and a generous glug of olive oil, using your hands coat all pieces with this spice mix.

4. Place in a lined baking tray and cook for about 50 mins, or until soft, turning halfway through.

5. In the meantime make the chimichurri, slice the shallot ,chilli and herbs and mix with the minced garlic. Combine with olive oil and red wine vinegar and season to taste. It should have a nice kick and well balanced herby flavour. 

6. While the squash is warm, coat with chimichurri, scatter over some pommegranate seeds and a nice drizzle of your best olive oil....delicious! 

Chocolate salty balls... The healthy kind!

Having cut sugar from my diet for the past few months, I'm having loads of fun in the kitchen replacing refined sugars with healthier alternatives, these little energy balls are really good post work out, as they're full of protein and healthy fat.  They're pretty quick to make and keep really well in the fridge or freezer. 

My favourite cacao powder in Sevenhills wholefoods and I use their cacoa butter too, both of which are in this recipe. I use a Nutribullet to make them but a food processor or blender would work just as well.

Hazelnut and Bing cherry chocolate balls

75g Bing cherries

100g toasted hazelnuts, skins rubbed off

25g of cacao butter

1tsp of vanilla essence

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

50g of cacao powder

Juice of 1 clementine 

1tbsp of maple syrup

A pinch of Himalayan sea salt

Toppings... ( this is what I had in the cupboard but 

Chia seed

Sesame seeds (toasted)

Goji berries

Cacao powder

1. Place your hazelnuts on a baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 175oc. Toast for ten mins.

2. In the meantime, soak your cherries in hot water to soften them.

3. When your nuts are toasted allow them to cool then rub of the skins using a tea towel.

4. Place the nuts in the Nutribullet and pulse.

5. Melt your cacao butter in a saucepan and allow to cool slightly.

6. Drain your cherries

7. Add all the ingredients to the bullet or blender and blitz till you have a paste.

8. Refrigerate for about 30 mins or until firm enough to form balls. 

9. Roll in the toppings and refrigerate until you fancy a snack! 

Clean and green lunch

Sweet potato is one of my ultimate comfort foods, I love roasting them with tons of spices, for me the bigger the flavour the better! They're a nutrient powerhouse, and particularly high in Vitamin A, a great antioxidant, so all round good news!

This was a very simple but super nutritious raid the fridge recipe, to feed myself and two hungry boys, it worked just a treat! 

3 sweet potatoes

2 peppers

half a red cabbage

Handful of spinach

3 spring onions 

1 avocado

2 birds eye chillies, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp of toasted coriander seeds

1 tsp of toasted fennel seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

1tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 a lemon

A healthy glug of olive oil

Sea Salt

Chilli flakes 

1. Preheat your oven to 180 oc. Dice your sweet potato into 2cm cubes, dress liberally with olive oil, paprika, coriander , cumin and some sea salt. 

2. Place on a lined baking tin and bake for around 40 mins or until soft.

3. In the meantime toast your fennel and coriander seeds until golden brown and aromatic, allow to cool and grind in a pestle and mortar. 

4. Chop the pepper finely, slice the avocado, finely slice the red cabbage, place together in a large bowl to season. 

5.  Chop your birds eye chillies, (I keep the seeds in, it's winter and I want the heat) and finely slice the spring onions.  

6. Mix together the sweet potato with the other veg and add the chopped birds eye chillies and spring onions.

7. Finely make your dressing, crush the garlic, add the toasted seeds, along with the juice of half a lemon and a good glug of olive oil, season with salt and chilli flakes. Check for flavour.

8. Dress your vegetables,  adding a handful of spinach, you want everything well coated and full of flavour. 

9. Serve up on it's own or with some hot smoked salmon or roast chicken.