During the block of snowdays recently, we did a lot of baking and soup making (see Our Snow Days Became Baking Days – Is The Gym Open Yet?), the kitchen became a hive of activity, partly to keep warm and partly for something to do! I’m going to attempt to post some of the recipes; I hope I can remember, or at least decipher the brief notes we scribbled down at the time! I always think the photos will be enough, or my Instagram posts listing the ingredients, but then I forget the quantities. So bear this in mind and don’t take the recipes too literally if you try them.
This soup came about because we had a butternut squash from our organic veg box that had been waiting a while to be used, but it was small, and I had bought some much-reduced leeks that needed using, plus there were a couple of cauliflower florets left from Sunday, when we’d used the rest of it, and the middle bit of a bunch of celery. They turned into a lovely warming soup on a freezing, snowladen day. My husband also made bread rolls that morning, which you can see in the photo, but they weren’t gluten-free, so I’m not featuring them here.
This soup is full of healthy ingredients and is anti-inflammatory. (Butternut squash provides vitamins A and C, B6, potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium, as do leeks). No cream or butter, just a little coconut oil.
As always, the recipes are vegan and gluten-free, organic where possible.
Makes enough for 4 servings.
Ingredients
Coconut Oil for frying
1 Small Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 Leek, trimmed, washed and sliced (keep as much of the greenery as is usable)
2 Cauliflower Florets, chopped
3 Large Carrots, scrubbed and chopped (peeled if not organic)
The middle stalks of Celery with leaves, chopped
Approx. 1.5 Pints Vegetable Stock, with 1 Tsp Yeast Extract dissolved in it
Half a Tsp each of Cumin, Ginger, Turmeric & Curry Powder
Black Pepper
Pink Himalayan Salt if required for taste when cooked
Method
Melt the oil until hot but not smoking
Add the spices and all the veg, mix well, add black pepper, place the lid on and sweat for a few minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally
Add the hot stock with the yeast extract, enough to cover the veg
Replace the lid, and cook on a low heat until the veggies are soft but not mushy, stirring occasionally.
Blend with a stick blender, leaving some texture to it, taste and adjust the seasoning
Serve with warm rolls or flat bread
Copyright: Chris McGowan
An unusual topic for a Monday Meditation, but if left to my own devices, I find baking a very meditative occupation.
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It’s January, it’s freezing cold and blowing a gale that is shaking the rafters and here I am writing out a recipe for a frozen smoothie! Well, the reason is, we did an inventory of our freezer because we just couldn’t squeeze any more into it, and I was astonished at how much frozen fruit there was in there. No wonder there was no room! I have a habit of saving some of the summer fruits and freezing them for the winter when they’re not available or very expensive, but inevitably they get covered with other foods and I forget about them.
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pearsnotparsnipsdotcom 
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