I love these wee radishes, they are such a gorgeous colour and look great sliced in salads or added to stir fries at the last minute . One  of my favourite ways to use them are in a  delicious potato salad.   Cold potatoes are high in resistant starch,  which our gut bacteria love!!
These wee bombs are also a great digestive aid and will get your digestive juices flowing! The brine is a beautiful pink and can be used in salad dressings or just drink a small glass as a great tummy settler!
The brine is packed with probiotics and is really  delicious!
Ingredients

• 400g radishes, tops trimmed
• 1 or 2 tsp pickling spice or fennel or coriander or freshly ground black pepper
• 15g/1 tablespoon sea salt
• 10g/2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 litre filtered water
• 1 red onion sliced or 5 spring onions, white bits only
• 3 slices fresh ginger
• 2 or 3 large slices of lemon
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves, smashed with the back of a knife
• 1 tsp or more dried chilli flakes, depending how hot you like it

Method

1. Make the brine by dissolving the sea salt and sugar in a jug. Wash your glass jar in hot soapy water and rinse it well to remove any soap residues.
2. Put the spices in the bottom of the jar, then add the vegetables, finishing with the lemon slices on top. Pour the brine over until everything is completely submerged. Cover with a large cabbage leaf or ziplock bag filled with extra brine to keep everything under the brine.
3. Loosely close the jar and leave somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight for 7 to 12 days. I tend to put mine in the garage since the sulphurous pong can be quite overpowering and you may get complaints from family members!
4. Taste them after 7 days and if they are sour enough for you then transfer them to the fridge where they will keep for around 6 months.
5. If not sour enough then leave them another 4 or 5 days.
6. Keep any excess brine and use it in salad dressings, its teeming with probiotics!!

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Kombucha, for those of you not familiar with it, is a lightly carbonated fermented green tea, a real health tonic and absolutely delicious!

It’s an adaptagen, not a cure all, and brings the body back into balance or homeostasis, which benefits the entire body, rather than a specific organ or system.
Kombucha gradually detoxifies the body so the immune system can function optimally. Think of it as a filter cleaner, where the filter is your liver!

It contains a myriad of beneficial compounds including organic acids, antioxidants, vitamins, probiotics including many strains of beneficial bacteria and yeasts.


Here are some of the ways that regular kombucha drinking can improve your health!

• Reduces stress
• Supports healthy digestion and regulates elimination through the bowels
• Lowers cholesterol
• Regulates blood sugar
• Detoxifies the body and supports liver and kidney function.
• Increases energy and metabolism.
• Alleviates joint pain
• Boosts the Immune system
• Supports the body through chemo or radiotherapy
• Kills parasites
• Eliminates candida
• Alleviates IBS and digestive issues
• Heals ulcers and acid reflux

That’s a pretty impressive list for a delicious sparkling drink you can make yourself at home.



If you want to join me on any of my Fermented Drinks Workshops to learn how to do Kombucha, Kefir and other drinks, just click here

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I adapted this recipe from Italian minestrone so it has the same base flavours of tomato, onion and garlic. I decided to replace the white pasta with much healthier brown rice which makes the soup   gluten free   and the addition of some beans adds   fibre, protein and minerals and really makes this a complete meal in a bowl! 

You can add whatever veggies you have to ring the changes but peppers, green beans, carrots, leeks, courgettes, frozen peas and finely shredded greens of some sort all work really well and add loads of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins, strengthening literally every body system.
It's still wild garlic season so I am making the most of it by adding it to as many  dishes as I can.
It's delicious, highly nutritious and it's free so get yourself out to your nearest woodland and let your nose guide you to  swathes of gorgeous  wild garlic!

Any beans work, flageolet, cannelini, haricot, butter beans are all great.
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I am a big fan of nutritional yeast  flakes so add a   couple of tablespoons   to your soup or sprinkle some on as a garnish. They add great flavour, loads of minerals and vitamins and  make the soup lovely and creamy!

So without further ado, here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it....!


VEGAN RICE AND BEAN SOUP  WITH WILD GARLIC

INGREDIENTS

• I large onion, finely chopped
• 1 leek, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, finely diced
• 1 medium or 2 small firm courgettes, finely diced
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• a large bunch  of finely shredded wild garlic
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 small cup of brown rice
• 1 tin butterbeans or other white beans like cannellini or haricot
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon red pesto (optional)
• 1 or 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or rapeseed oil
• Sea salt to season


• METHOD

1. Chop all the vegetables into fairly small pieces.
2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large soup pot and sauté the onion and leek for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the chopped carrots, courgettes, pepper, celery and garlic and cook stirring for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes, rice, beans and stock, bring to the boil then simmer for 30 to 40 minutes    until the rice is cooked .
4. Finely shred the wild garlic and add to the pot , turn the heat off, put the lid on and let the wild garlic wilt.
5. Stir in the pesto if using and season with sea salt.
6. If the soup is too thick just add more stock. 
7. You can garnish with a good sprinkling of nutritional yeast flakes    or seaweed flakes for an extra nutritional and flavour boost.