Category Archives: Light lunch

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

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A brilliant soup for a cold, wintery day (we’re not quite in Winter yet but it certainly feels like it!) This recipe was actually one I made before going GF/Paleo so please ignore the evil slice of wholegrain bread you see in the shot of the final product. I could crop it out but I can’t be bothered, just pretend it’s an almond flour cracker thing. By the way, if you don’t want this to be spicy, leave out the chillies.

Ingredients:

  • (Try to use organic veg where possible and support your local farmers by buying British!) 4 large Red Peppers
  • 8 Tomatos (deseeded) or 2 tins of tomatoes
  • 1 large red onion (or a white one will do but red is sweeter)
  • 1 whole garlic bulb
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock (Home made is best but when pushed for time try to pick Organic reduced salt stock cubes)
  • Oregano or mixed herbs
  • 1 small bunch of sweet Basil
  • 1 large carrot (optional)
  • 2 red chillies (optional)
  • Cayenne Pepper (optional)
  • Paprika (optional)

Method:
Cut the peppers and red chillies in half and deseed them (don’t deseed the chillies if you love the heat, I kept mine in) and place them on a roasting tray. Take the garlic bulb, chop off the top to expose the garlic cloves and place on the tray.

I don’t use oil on the peppers or chillies but you can if you want. Keep it healthy by spraying a little on.

Whack it all in the oven on Gas mark 6ish until the Red Pepper (and chillies’) skin is ‘blistered’ and slightly charred. You could do this under the grill or on a BBQ. The garlic should also be a golden brown by now. When the peppers and chillies are cool enough to handle, pop them in a zip lock bag so the steam releases the skin from the flesh. Throw out the skin and chop the flesh. Alternatively just peel the skins off by hand, it’s not difficult and I find it therapeutic lol.

Squeeze the garlic cloves out (this should happen easily now they’re cooked) into a cooking pot. (You could add oil to the pot but I never do). Chop the red onion and finely chop the carrot then add them to the pot. Add the dried oregano or mixed herbs if you don’t have an oregano and add a little bit of stock just to get the onions and garlic cooking nicely. Once the onions look a little soft, add the rest of the vegetable stock, tomatoes, chopped red peppers and chillies and some basil, boil for about 5 minutes then cover and lower the gas for a further 15-20 minutes so the liquid reduces and thickens a little.

Add a dash of cayenne pepper and paprika to taste and if you don’t like lumpy soup, grab the liquidiser and get blending. Dish it up and you’re good to go!

All the ingredients boiling away for 5 minutes before covering the pot and simmering for 15-20 minutes

The finished product – a lovely bowl of soup (serve without the bread!)

Egg spring (or pancake) rolls

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I love this for it’s simplicity and the goodness you can get from this light meal or breakfast option.

The idea is simple: I love spring rolls and this is healthy alternative.

Ingredients
1 or 2 eggs
sliced mixed vegetables/left over stir fry/bean sprouts etc
Salt & Pepper

Depending on the size of the pan you fry your eggs in, you will need one or two eggs. the frying pan I used was small so one egg was a enough. Whisk the egg and fry like a pancake. Lightly fry your vegetables  with some S&P or use some left over stir fry as the filling. Place a couple of tablespoons worth into the centre of the egg pancake and then fold the right and left sides over and roll away from you into a sausage-ish shape. Cut in half and serve!

Courgetti Bolognese

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This is genius! I’m only chuffed with it because I came up with this idea all by myself.
I made a massive amount of beef bolognese yesterday so I could freeze smaller batches for my Totally Paleo Pizza. I figured seeing as I made so much I may as well have it as bolognese but I don’t eat spaghetti, not even the GF kind (duh).
I’ve recently discovered that I LOVE courgettes and have been cooking Mediterranean veg quite a bit recently so I thought, ‘How about I make some courgetti?!’

For this courgetti I used courgettes and carrots. I would have used bean shoots too but we didn’t have any, plus this was a quick thing. 1 medium/small courgette and 2 medium/small carrots.
After peeling and washing the carrots I used this cool potato-kinda-peeler-gadget thing we have that shreds veg into spaghetti-like strips (or julienne slices) and I did the same to the courgettes (I didn’t peel them)

I added a light spray of EVOO and a tad bit of ghee. Tossed the carrotetti(?) in the pan first, then the courgetti, just for a couple of minutes with a bit of salt and pepper.
You could also have this raw! I would add the bean shoots raw next time, just so there’s more of a crunch.

My bolognese recipe will be posted separately.

Edit: Apparently making “spaghetti” with courgettes has already been done and it’s old news. I’m still holding onto my genius title because I never heard of it! Alhamdulillaah, it was good to discover something for myself instead of reading about it somewhere.

Egg muffins

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I’ve had eggs cooked in almost every way possible except poached and the other day I tried something new; egg muffins! No, they’re not flour based or a cake, they’re named muffins because they’re baked in a muffin tin. What I like about this recipe is tha it is quick, easy and you can use whatever you have in your fridge.

This recipe makes 6 muffins
3 eggs
cayenne pepper
Paprika
Pink Himalayan Salt
Black Pepper
Crushed red chilli flakes
Crushed cumin
Crushed corriander seeds
Chilli powder
1-2 fresh green chillies
Fresh corriander

Any veg you have lying about:
Sliced spring onions/the white of leeks and some of the green bits
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cherry/Plum tomatoes

Any meat you have in the fridge (optional but more protein is good):
Left over roast chicken, Prawns etc.

Simply throw it all into a bowl, whisk with a fork and divide into lightly greased/oiled muffin tins. Pop in the oven on Gas Mark 6ish for about 15 minutes. Serve with salad or have them as a snack. They can last a good couple of days but they’re so quick and easy to make I’d rather have them fresh. Re-warmed eggs are a bit weird I think.