Recipe: Leek and Potato Soup

Soup is my go-to thing to cook when I’ve got a mishmash of leftover veggies in the fridge that I don’t know what else to do with. It’s a great way to use things up and avoid food waste, as one of my biggest grievances is throwing away food, and make something that is super quick, super healthy and cheap. I frequently make soup in bulk and freeze what’s leftover to reheat on a lazy day. I normally always have the ingredients for a soffritto at the bottom of my fridge – a finely chopped mix of carrots, celery and onion – which is used as the base for all Italian soups and stews. They are all really cheap ingredients, but combined they add a great flavour base and a bit of bulk for any other ingredients to build upon. You can buy frozen soffritto mixes ready-chopped from the supermarket, but I find it so easy to make my own and it freezes really well if your soffritto veggies are starting to turn and you need to use them up! Having these fresh, or chopped and bagged in my freezer, means that it’s always easy for me to whip up a meal when I have other ingredients lying around that will make a delicious soup or stew.

I happened to have a couple of lovely organic leeks in my fridge this week (kindly donated by my parents who were going on holiday and didn’t want to throw them away) and a two small potatoes left over from potato cakes I’d made the previous week, so I decided to make my vegan leek and potato soup. A lot of leek and potato soup recipes call for butter or milk to be used, but potatoes are so creamy in their own right, I don’t think you miss the dairy from this recipe.

Makes 4 portions

– 2 carrots

– 2 celery sticks

– 1 onion (white or red)

– 2 leeks (tough outer skins removed)

– 2 small potatoes (or 1 large) peeled

– 1 litre vegetable stock (I use bullion powder mixed with hot water)

First, get a large saucepan on a medium low heat with enough olive oil in to cover the base of the pan. Then make your soffritto base by finely dicing onions, carrots and celery. When the oil is hot, add your soffritto to the pan and fry gently until softened, stirring every now and again so that it doesn’t stick to the base of the pan (this should take around 10 minutes). In the meantime, rinse the leeks under the tap and slice lengthways down the middle, then finely chop. Once chopped, add these to a colander and wash thoroughly. Finely dice the potatoes and add to the colander with the leeks and rinse again to remove some of the starch. Once your soffritto is softened, add the chopped leeks and potato to the pan and stir. Combine all the vegetables then put a lid on the pan and turn the heat down to low. Leave to gently cook for 10 minutes then remove the lid and add 1 litre of vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Once bubbling, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover with the pan lid. After 20 minutes, take off the heat and leave to cool slightly before blending with a hand blender (or whatever blender you have). Then serve!

Recipe: Chickpea, Sundried Tomato, Feta and Parsley Salad

Last year, I made a conscious effort to start making lunches to take to work. It’s a simple way for me to stay healthy during the week as having something pre-made means that I’m much more likely to keep on track, not only for lunch, but for the rest of the day. Whilst I don’t always have the time to do this, I’ll try and dedicate a couple of hours on a Sunday to making large portions of grains/gluten-free pasta, pulses, salads, dips etc. which I can throw together the evening before into a lunchbox.

When it comes to pulses, I always have a can of chickpeas in my cupboard. They’re incredibly good for you as they are a great source fibre and also contain phytoestrogens – a plant-based hormone which supports bone health. They’re a great standby to have on hand for curries, chillis and home-made houmous – but recently I’ve been using a can a week to make this chickpea salad. It’s so quick and easy to pull together and is seriously yummy. Their nutty taste and texture is a perfect accompaniment to the tangy sundried tomatoes and creamy, sharp feta cheese. I find adding parsley and a drizzle of olive oil at the end really balances the flavours and makes this an all-round delicious salad.

Serves 4 as part of a main dish

– 1 can chickpeas in water

– 70g feta cheese

– 100g sundried tomatoes

– chopped parsley

Drain the chickpeas and rinse thoroughly in water and place in a large bowl. Chop sundried tomatoes into strips and add to the bowl. Crumble in the feta then add a drizzle of olive oil (about half a tablespoon) and give everything a good stir until the feta starts to break down slightly and cover the chickpeas. At this stage add the parsley, season with salt and pepper and add another drizzle of olive oil to taste.

Recipe: Polenta with mushroom and spinach ragu

My mum’s side of the family originates from Solofra in the Campagnian region in the south of Italy, which is famous for it’s pasta (fact: Calabria is the largest consuming region of pasta in the whole of Italy), fresh fruit and vegetables that are rich in nutrients from the volcanic soil, and seafood. So to me, there’s nothing better than Southern Italian food. It’s what I’ve grown up eating and it’s my favourite thing to cook.

As a staple Italian ingredient, polenta isn’t something I’ve grown up eating a great deal of, as it’s classic to northern Italian cuisine. Polenta is often referred to as the Italian equivalent to mashed potato, but it can be cooked and used in a variety of ways; soft and creamy, allowed to set and lightly grilled, used as breadcrumbs for coating and frying, and as a flour alternative in baking. It’s a ground maize and therefore is totally gluten free, which makes it great for coeliacs or those just trying to avoid eating too much gluten for health reasons like me. Health and food intolerances aside, polenta is delicious and I always order it when I see it on the menu in restaurants, so I thought it was about time I learned how to cook it.

This recipe was a first-timer and I was so surprised by how easy and quick it was to cook and prepare – it probably took 20 minutes in total, including me reading loads of instructions about how to cook polenta! The creamy polenta is such a nice base for the garlicy, meaty mushrooms and vibrant spinach. It’s the perfect veggie mid week meal when you need something that’s hot and filling, but isn’t a bulky bowl of pasta.

Serves 2

– 100g quick-cook polenta

– 200ml milk

– 200ml water (use 400ml water or vegetable stock for a vegan alternative and leave out the butter & Parmesan)

– 300g mushrooms (I use a frozen mix of mushrooms)

– 1 bag spinach

– Parsely – leaves chopped

– Garlic – 2 cloves chopped

– Large knob of butter  – 30g parmesan

Place a pan on a medium high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan. Whilst the pan gets hot, slice the mushrooms and add them straight to the pan. Cook until they just start to soften then add the garlic, followed by the spinach. Cook until the mushrooms are soft and the spinach wilts. Season with some salt and pepper.

In the meantime, put a saucepan on the hob and add the milk and water then bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the polenta in a slow and steady stream and whisk for 2-3 minutes, or until most of the water has been absorbed and it’s the consistency of soft mashed potato. Add more liquid if you need to. Once it’s at the right consistency stir in the knob of butter and half the parmesan, then season.

Spoon the polenta onto a plate then place the cooked mushroom and spinach ragu on top. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and the remainder of the parmesan, then season and enjoy!

Introductions

Time to get the first post out of the way; welcome to my blog where I’ll be documenting my learnings and musings about natural healing through food.

After suffering quite a nasty injury whilst involved in an accident in my early 20s, I’ve spent the last 5 years trying to get myself in shape and back to the healthy person I was. I’ve quit smoking (ok, so maybe I wasn’t so healthy), started doing regular Pilates and for the last year have been made a change to the way I eat at home by trying to choose and cook foods that have particular healing or health benefits. Whilst I I still enjoy the food I want, especially when I go out to eat, I’ve learned loads over the past year and am excited to learn a lot more.

I’ve been documenting most of this over on instagram at jessicaelloise, but I have decided that as a new year’s resolution, and after much encouragement from friends and family, that I should have a go at writing a blog. Hopefully I’ll enjoy the writing part as much as I do the photography and eating!