So wild garlic season is here and I am having a great time preserving it in pestos, kimchi, oils, salts, vinegars and powders, as well as using it as I would use spinach, wilted into soups, sauces, stews and anything else I can think of!
Foraged greens are a great way of increasing diversity in our gut microbiome and are highly nutritious and of course free! 
Wild garlic grows in wooded areas, just follow your nose, you can smell it!! The leaves, stems and flowers are edible, as are the bulbs but you want to gather it sustainably and not dig it up, just harvest the leaves and later on the wee white star shaped flowers which taste divine, sweet with a hint of garlic! They are fabulous to garnish soups and salads.
​I use a block of Creamed Coconut for soups, its way cheaper than cans of coconut milk. A 200g pack costs around 80p and makes the equivalent of 2 cans of coconut milk. I buy KTC Brand from Asian supermarkets, Asda also sell it!
I made this delicious soup for lunch yesterday and it was so delicious I thought I would share it! It couldn't be simpler so here is my recipe!
If you don't have any wild garlic, then you can use spinach instead, although then it won't taste garlicky!
You could add a tsp of garlic powder or a couple of cloves of garlic instead.

INGREDIENTS
A large bunch of wild garlic, leaves only, washed and chopped
1 medium potato, washed and diced
1 leek or onion, sliced finely
750g bag of frozen peas
100g coconut cream or 1 can coconut milk
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

METHOD
1. Add the diced potato, leek/onion, coconut cream and stock to a medium sized pot.
2. Simmer for around 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.
3. Add frozen peas, bring back to the boil, then simmer for a few minutes.
4. Add the wild garlic or spinach leaves, stir in, then turn heat off and put the lid on the pot.
5.After 5 minutes, purree the soup using a hand blender
6. Add a tablespoon lemon or lime juice.
7. Serve and enjoy.

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.

So its been a while since I posted anything on my blog! I've been very busy ​with Fermenting Workshops and just generally fermenting everything and having lots of fun experimenting and trying out new recipes and techniques.

I was sent a bag of organic tiger nuts recently from the awesome Tiger Nut Company so I've added that to the heady mix! I've made tiger nut milk, tiger nut kefir,  spiced raisin tiger nut scones and wee Beetroot Bliss Bites using the dehydrated tiger nut pulp!

I have also acquired some water kefir grains so I now have the full gamut of ferments!
I can honestly say that ferments are taking over my life and my kitchen! 

But of all the things to be addicted to, its a good one!! So many amazing health benefits  and a whole new world of flavour!

I posted a photo of my rather delicious fermented dinner a few weeks ago on UK Fermenting Friends and 200 people liked it and I had lots of requests for recipes! These are all people who already know about fermented foods and drinks but I think the foodie side of me is taking simple ferments to new levels!!

I've certainly had a lot of interest in my workshops recently, mostly thanks to my wonderful friend Katrina of the awesome Body Toolkit Juicing Retreat, who shared my post with her juicing group with a glowing recommendation! My April workshop is fully booked and I only have one place left on 19th May, so I will add a few extra dates!

​Contact me if you are interested in learning how to make all sorts of amazing fermented goodies and would like to add your name to my waiting list!

So off the topic of fermenting and back to this brilliant recipe!

I ran a series of healthy eating workshops this week at St Pauls Youth Forum Community Group in Provanmill, which was great fun, with lots of healthy food made and scoffed!
Our last session was Indian themed and I came across this great recipe for flatbreads on cafedelites cool website.
I normally make sourdough flatbreads, which are great but these ones are so soft and pliable and easy to roll, perfect for a fun workshop with kids and adults. Everyone loved them so I thought I'd share the recipe!
I'm off to Berlin next week and I'm most excited, its the best city for vegan food, and although I'm not exclusively vegan, its my favourite food and what I eat most of the time!
These flatbreads could easily be made vegan by substituting Soya yoghurt for the Greek yoghurt. Aldi sell delicious thick and creamy Greek Yogurt, which is what I used for these along with unsweetened soya milk.
So I hope this recipe becomes your favourite flatbread recipe, its definitely a keeper!
I made them last night and we had them for dinner with coconut spiced potatoes and mango chutney, simple and delicious!!
The addition of garlic powder gives these a lovely flavour. A teaspoon of cumin seeds would also work well!
The combination of greek yoghurt and olive oil make these flatbreads  so soft and pliable and easy to roll out and also if you use a non stick pan, they hardly need any oil and its so easy to flip them over!
Please leave me a comment if you try these!!
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So here is the recipe....


Easy Garlic Flatbreads

Ingredients makes 8 flatbreads

• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 level tablespoons ( 75 grams )plain Greek yogurt or soya yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 280 ml  plant based unsweetened milk  or normal milk

Instructions

1. Whisk flour, garlic powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yogurt, oil and milk.
2. Knead for about 1 minute until a soft dough is formed (it doesn't need long). Cover bowl with wrap or a plate and set aside to rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
3. Dust a clean work surface with a light coating of flour. Divide dough in half, then divide each half in 4 equal-sized pieces (you will have 8 pieces in total). Roll the pieces into balls; flatten them out with the palms of your hands, then use a rolling pin to roll each piece 2mm thick and about 3 1/2 inches or 10cm in diameter.
4. Lightly grease a nonstick pan with a small brush of oil, and heat over medium heat. Cook one piece for 2 minutes on one side. Lightly brush the top over with oil again before flipping. Cook until golden. Repeat with remaining flatbread.
5. Keep the flatbreads warm in a clean tea towel.
6. These will freeze well and also reheat in a hot oven sprinkled with some water! 

                               ......your health in your hands........




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