Soup To Nourish Your Body

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If you are looking for wholesome, nourishing food that will feed your body this winter, soups are a real winner.

Yes, you can buy tinned and fresh ones at the supermarket, but there is something really satisfying about serving up a steaming bowl of goodness you have made from scratch.

Asian Broth
If you are looking for a light lunch option, you can’t go wrong with this quick and easy recipe that serves four.

You will need:
3 cloves of garlic
One piece of ginger (around 5cm)
200 g of pak choi, choy sum and Chinese cabbage
2 spring onions
1 red chilli
2 star anise
800 ml of clear vegetable stock
1 lime
Soy sauce

To make:
Peel and crush the garlic, then peel and grate the ginger. Trim the greens and finely slice the spring onions and chilli then add to a saucepan together with the garlic, ginger and star anise.
Put the pan over a low heat, add the stock, then bring to the boil. Gently simmer for around half an hour, then finally add the vegetables and cook gently until they are slightly wilted but still give a little bit of crunch.
Serve with soy sauce and a little lime juice and enjoy the fragrant flavours.

Winter Vegetable Soup with Red Lentils
This is a great warming soup to enjoy with family and friends after a country walk but also makes a hearty dinner when served with pitta bread and humus.

You will need:

85g of dried red lentils
2 medium carrots, diced
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
3 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon of vegetable bouillon powder
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
Boiling water
Salt and pepper to taste

To make:
Add the lentils and vegetables to a pan together with the tomato purée, thyme, garlic, bouillon powder and coriander, then pour in one litre of boiling water and stir well. Cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
You can either eat this as a chunky soup, or blitz in a blender and enjoy a smoother meal.

Roast Sweet Potato Soup

This delicious soup is a packed with 2 of your 5 a day and is perfect for taking to work in a flask or eating after a gym session.

You will need:
500g of sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
300g of carrots, peeled and diced
Olive oil
2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon of vegetable bouillon powder
100ml of fat-free crème fraîche, plus extra to serve
Salt and pepper
Boiling water

To make:
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7 then drizzle the carrots and sweet potatoes with olive oil plus salt and pepper and cook for around half an hour.
Heat two large tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion until it is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for several minutes then pour in the boiling water and vegetable bouillon powder and mix well and simmer for around ten minutes.
Take the roasted vegetables out of the oven and once cool, add to the pan mix and blend together until smooth and lump free.
Add the crème fraîche, reheat and enjoy.

What to do with the leftovers

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With a tummy full of food and drink, you might be tempted to just chuck away the leftovers from the festivities, but don’t. It’s a massive bin and there is no reason to throw it in the bin.

We have had a look at how to get the most out of your festive feasts and hard-earned cash.

Spicy Noodles
Whether you have a plate of leftover chicken, beef, turkey or tofu, noodles are the perfect way to use them up.

For a fast and easy lunch or supper, you will need:

250g medium egg noodles
500g cooked meat or other protein
2 spring onions, peeled chopped
1 red pepper, chopped and seeded
One bag of prepared bean sprouts, washed and drained
The juice of two fresh limes
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red chilli, thinly sliced

First things first, cook the noodles, then drain and rinse with boiling water and leave to cool. Mix the soy sauce, lime juice and sugar into a thin paste.

Next heat the oil in a wok and when hot add the garlic, chilli, meat and spring onions, gently fry for a couple of minute then add the noodles and the bean sprouts into the pan and cook for another minute or two.

Next add your sauce to the mix, toss everything together well and once all ingredients are piping hot, serve and add extra soy sauce if needed.

Festive Bubble and Squeak
This is the ultimate in post-Christmas comfort food and is great eaten in bowls watching your favourite movie.

To make four servings you will need:

1 medium parsnip
1 potato
Leftover Brussel sprouts and/or cabbage
1 garlic clove, crushed
Leftover turkey or chicken
A little gravy – around 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 large egg (free range)
Leftover cranberry sauce or mayonnaise

Peel the potato and parsnip, and then grate both into a bowl and spread the cabbage and sprouts.

Put the veg in a sieve and squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then put back into the bowl and beat in the egg as well as seasoning with the garlic, plus salt and pepper.

Once you have a sticky mess, shape into four small balls. Put the leftover meat into a pan and cook with the gravy over a low heat and gently cook until the turkey is warm. Next cook the balls for 3 minutes on each side until they are golden brown then add the cranberry or mayo and enjoy.

Festive Smoothie

As well as being left with plates of meat and veg, you will probably also find your fruit bowl is still full as people tend to opt for the chocolates over the apples and pears.

Don’t throw any of it away, instead use it to make a vitamin packed festive smoothie. For two delicious smoothies you will need:

2 apples, cored but with the peel left on
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 clementine
Small handful of cashew nuts
2 cups of spinach (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of almond milk
Ice cubes

Start by adding the liquid to your blender, followed by the soft fruit. Blend on high for 30 seconds or until the smoothie is creamy, then add the remaining ingredients and ice. Blast until smooth and drink.

Team Pure-Beauty

Celebrate the Year of the Rooster

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banana, banana halves, beer, caramel, chilli oil, Chinese, chopsticks, Coconut ice cream, crab meat, creamy, deep fat fryer, dim sum, dulce de leche, eggs, feast, fish sauce, ginger, ginger pork stir-fry, mange-tout, mushrooms, pan, peppers, piping hot, pork tenderloin, ready-made filo pastry, salt, seaweed, sesame oil, simmering, soup, soy sauce, spring onions, sticky rice, stir-fry, sunflower oil, sweet tooth, The Chinese New Year, The Year of the Rooster., toasted sesame seeds, toffee banana spring rolls, totally tasty recipes

Saturday January 28 marked The Chinese New Year and the start of The Year of the Rooster.

While there are celebratory events happening around the country over the next few weeks, if you would rather stay at home in the warm with family and friends, we have some quick and easy, but totally tasty recipes for you to try.

The staples for any Chinese feast are sticky rice, seaweed, beer, chopsticks and dim sum, you can then start with a delicious, spicy crab and sweetcorn soup. To serve six you will need:

• 6 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 2 medium sweetcorns with the kernels removed
• 4 teaspoons of cornflour
• 200g of fresh shredded white crab meat
• ½ thumb of peeled and finely chopped ginger
• 4 finely sliced spring onions
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons of chilli oil
• 1 tablespoon of dry sherry
• 2 lightly beaten egg whites

Fill a pan with water and as you bring to the boil stir in the fish sauce and add a pinch of sail. Then add the corn and simmer gently for five minutes.

Next add several large tablespoons of cold water to the cornflour, blend and pour into the simmering soup, mixing until completely combined and all lumps are dissolved. Continue to simmer until the kernels are soft and the soup has started to slightly thicken. Add the crab meat, ginger, spring onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and season to taste. Finally slowly drizzle the egg white into the soup to create long white strands then serve in bowls and add chilli oil as required.

For a main meal treat, go for ginger pork stir-fry, for which you will need:

• 250g of pork tenderloin
• 1 teaspoon of cornflour
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 150g of sliced mushrooms
• 2 deseeded, sliced red peppers and one yellow one
• 75g of trimmed mange-tout
• A thumb of grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 4 thinly sliced spring onions
• Freshly ground black pepper

This is quick to make, so get all the ingredients prepared and when guests are ready to eat mix the corn flour with two tablespoons of cold water until it is a smooth paste, and then gently stir in the soy sauce.

Warm the oil and when hot stir-fry the pork for a couple of minutes until lightly browned but not totally cooked through. Transfer to a plate then reduce the heat and stir-fry the mushrooms and peppers for several minutes together with the mange-tout and cook for a minute.

Add the ginger, garlic and spring onions and add the pork back to the pan and cook for several minutes and serve with rice when piping hot.

For those with a sweet tooth, there is nothing better than delicious than toffee banana spring rolls.

For these you will need:

• 100ml sunflower oil for frying
• 3 sheets of ready-made filo pastry
• 60g dulce de leche (a creamy caramel sauce)
• 3 ripe bananas
• Five-spice powder, for sprinkling
• Coconut ice cream and toasted sesame seeds, to serve

To make the rolls start by heating the sunflower oil in a saucepan, or you can use a deep-fat fryer set to 180C.

As the oil warms, cut the sheets of pasty in half and halve the bananas.

Spread two generous teaspoons of duche de leche over each halved banana; sprinkle over some spice and then place the banana at the bottom of the pastry sheet before creating your roll. Brush a little water across the seam to seal then repeat the process with the rest of the banana halves.

Deep-fry the rolls until crispy and golden, use kitchen paper to drain and serve with the ice cream and if you dare, repeat.

Have fun and if you have a Chinese recipe you love, let us know.

Team Pure-Beauty