Winter Wellness Bowl

My winter wellness bowl is a nourishing warming soup recipe that I created for when you need ample nourishment with ease. I've filled this wellness bowl recipe with low inflammatory foods and very little sodium. I love to make a big batch of this without any salt so that it can be season to personal requirements and tastes. Feel free to up the protein with fish, tofu, chickpeas or chicken as this is a wonderfully adaptable soup recipe that can be enjoyed without or with meat for a quick, nourishing easy meal any time of the week. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cup red lentils, pre-soaked 8-12 hours

6 cups (1.5 liters) filtered water

4 large cloves of garlic, crushed

1 leek, chopped

2 sticks of celery, finely sliced

1 parsnip, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets

3 large leaves of silver beet (green part only), finely sliced

1 sweet red pepper, diced

1 brown onion, finely diced

2 Tsp fennel seeds

¼ Tsp cayenne pepper

1 ½ turmeric, ground

Pinch of saffron

2 cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated

Zest of one large lemon

Juice of  ½ a lemon

1 Tbs coconut oil 

2x 400g Tin, chopped tomatoes

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Firstly, in a large casserole pot over a medium low health melt the oil and then add the onion, carrot, leek, parsnip, garlic, celery and cook for 5-8 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft and the onions translucent add the fennel seeds, ginger, turmeric and cayenne pepper cooking till fragrant.

Next drain and rinse the lentils then add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and water. Turn the temperature up to a medium high heat then reduce once boiling and simmer for 25- 30 minutes. Once the lentils have cooked and the liquid has reduced and thickened add the red pepper, broccoli and silver beet. Lower the heat and simmer for 10-minutes.  Finally zest the lemon over top and add the lemon juice then season to your liking with salt and pepper.

Serve 6 - 8

Notes: 

Pre-soak the lentils in filtered water with a splash of ACV or lemon juice, this allows the phytic acid to break down making the nutrients of the lentil's bio-available and allowing for easier digestion.

This winter wellness bowl is ideal to make up in a big batch to keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days otherwise they can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Explore more nutrient-dense recipes:

Tomato, leek and fennel braised lentils

Beetroot, carrot, orange and walnut salad