Tag Archives: quick

Warming and simple, I whipped this soup up in less than 15 minutes. Don’t be fooled though, into thinking simple isn’t delicious. Blending the soup gives it a wonderfully thick and creamy consistency.
Ingredients – serves 4
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3-4 cups chicken stock
Method
- Sweat onions in a little olive oil over medium heat in a heavy based saucepan
- Add the cauliflower and enough stock to just cover the cauliflower
- Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the cauliflower is just tender
- Blend thoroughly
- Season to taste with salt
- Serve hot with a good drizzle of good olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper
5 Comments | tags: cauliflower, cauliflower soup, cruciferous, easy, quick, soup | posted in Comfort food, Healthy, Recipes

In the middle of one of my twice annual detoxes, I was in the mood for a simple pasta dish. I’ve found some really good organic brown rice pastas and also buckwheat pastas, which are detox-friendly, as well as having the added bonus of being gluten-free.
This dish is so quick and simple – perfect weekday dinner or double the quantity and you can have the leftovers as a pasta salad for lunch the next day.
Ingredients for one serving – adjust accordingly for more
- 3/4 cup dry spiral organic brown rice pasta
- 1/2 cup broccoli florets – no stems
- 2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (I love garlic so feel free to use less)
- good squeeze of lemon
- salt and pepper
Method
- Cook pasta according to packet directions in salted water
- When pasta is almost cooked, add the broccoli for a 30 seconds and drain – save about half a cup of the pasta water
- Sautée the garlic in a hot pan with some oil till soft
- Add the drained pasta and broccoli and toss in the garlic and oil – add a few spoons of the pasta water to help loosen the pasta up. The starchy water will help to give the pasta a nice silky texture
- Squeeze the lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste
- Serve hot for dinner
- If you want to keep the leftovers for lunch the next day, add a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and pop into the fridge for a yummy pasta salad
10 Comments | tags: broccoli, brown rice pasta, detox, gluten free, healthy, pasta, quick, simple, Tuesday night dinner, vegetarian | posted in Dinner, Lunch, noodles, Recipes

A really simple curry that you can get on the table in 20 minutes with the help of some pre-blended curry spices. You can get curry pastes in jars, or powders – I had Sharwood’s medium curry powder in my pantry which I used. Look for a spice mix with coriander, cumin, tumeric, paprika, cinnamon, fennel, cardamon – the usual Indian spices.
Ingredients makes 4-6 portions
- 3 tbs neutral oil, I use macadamia
- 1 onion, chopped
- thumb sized piece of ginger, thinly sliced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 5 tbl curry powder
- 400ml coconut cream
- 1 tbs concentrated chicken stock (or 1 stock cube if you don’t have access to the concentrated stuff)
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, sliced into thin strips
- 1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 200g cooked lentils (I used 100g brown lentils that I cooked to make 200g but you could also used tinned lentils – just drain and rinse them too)
- For garnish, big dollop of plain yoghurt, chopped fresh coriander and sliced red chilli
Method
- Fry the onions in the oil till translucent
- Add ginger and garlic and fry for 3 minutes
- Add the curry powder (or paste if you’re using this) and fry on high heat for 3 minutes
- Add the coconut cream, chicken stock and kaffir lime leaves, bring to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes
- This next step may seem odd but I actually think it’s necessary with this type of vegetarian curry where you want to eat everything in the bowl – strain the curry
- Use the back of a spoon to push the ingredients through the sieve – you want to extract as much flavour from the cooked ingredients as possible
- Pour the strained curry back into the pot, season with salt to taste
- Add in the chickpeas and lentils and bring to a gentle simmer
- Serve hot with the yoghurt, coriander and chilli and you can either eat it on it’s own or over some basmati rice
9 Comments | tags: chickpeas, curry, Indian, lentils, quick, simple, vegetarian | posted in Asian, Recipes

If you want a simple, warming and nutritious meal on a weeknight that’s easy peasy and quick to make, this is a terrific soup to make.
Ingredients (for four)
- 1 small pumpkin – any that you have access to in your supermarket but butternut makes for a creamier soup
- Chicken stock
- Cream and olive oil to serve
Method
- Cut the skin off the pumpkin and cut into small chunks
- IF you have time, drizzle with olive oil and roast in an oven at 200C for 40 minutes as this makes the soup extra sweet
- If not, simply pop the pumpkin into a soup pot and cover with just enough stock to cover 3/4 of the pumpkin. If you want a thinner soup, add more to cover the pumpkin
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender
- Blend until smooth and creamy
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Serve with a good dollop of cream and a drizzle of olive oil and a nice crusty loaf of bread
3 Comments | tags: easy, pumpkin soup, quick, yummy | posted in Comfort food, Dinner, Healthy, Recipes