Red Lentil and Lemon Soup

I am a very lazy cook and delight in recipes that are simple to make but still pack a nutritional punch.

This recipe for Red Lentil and Lemon Soup hits all of my recipe pleasure points: It is quick, easy and packed with flavour created by simple but nutritionally dense ingredients.

Lets break it down and take a look at how this simple soup recipe can support our beautiful midlife body:

1. Lentils. Rich in fibre and iron this quick to cook plant protein source helps to support our daily detox (read poop!) with fibre so that excess hormone can be eliminated from the body, helps to keep our iron stores healthy, provides us with energy boosting B vitamins and lentils give us slow burn energy that helps us to feel full and happy!
2. Bone Broth. I keep repeating myself on this one; bone broth is a superfood for the midlife woman.
Mineral dense to support weary adrenal glands and a sluggish thyroid, bone broth provides us with easily absorbed amino acids that support gut health (no more gassy bloat ladies!) collagen for joint health and great looking skin, and again with the minerals that support our bone health as we move into the next chapter. You can read more here
3. I am just going to give some praise to the cumin and chilli that give this recipe such a delicious flavour. These spices are warming to the body and support the midlife woman in maintaining a healthy metabolic rate. Spicy foods warm us from the inside out and ignite our internal furnace or metabolic rate giving the thyroid gland a ‘baby vacation’. And again…flavour!
4. Let’s talk about fast food! This nutrient dense soup is on the table within 20 minutes providing you with a delicious meal in less time than it would take you to order in. AND YOU WILL BE SUPPORTING YOUR HEALTH! Yes! I am shouting. Do yourself a solid ladies and throw the ingredients in your slow cooker!
5. Most of the ingredients for this recipe are found in the store cupboard or the bottom of your crisper. One carrot, an onion, a bag of red lentils, spices and some tomato paste. This recipe is a health promoting food and unlike a Gywneth endorsed juice cleanse, is within the budget and capabilities of everyone.

Life is busy, you don’t have time to spend hours in the kitchen labouring over supper, this recipe gives you a delicious and quick midweek option that delivers nutrition to your body in warming tasty mouthfuls.

…whenever you make bone broth, this recipe should be uppermost in your mind and if you are curious about which other foods work hardest to build health for a midlife woman you can download my FREE E-book, 10 Essential Health promoting Foods for the Midlife Woman.

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 carrot diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup red lentils

11/2 quarts chicken bone broth

1/2 lemon juiced

1 cup frozen spinach (optional)

Instructions

1. Gently melt the coconut oil in a pan and add the onion garlic, carrot and salt and spices

2. Sauté the vegetables and spices gently to release their delicious aroma

3. Add the tomato paste and simmer for 1 minute to cook the paste out and improve the flavour

4. Add the lentils, chicken bone broth and lemon juice and simmer the soup for 20 minutes or until the lentils are softened.

5. Blend the soup with a hand blender to form a smooth texture.

6. Add a cup of frozen spinach to increase the iron content of the soup or more lemon juice if you like a sour soup
   Enjoy!

If you like warming spices and meals that pack a punch with flavour, click here to get my recipe for anti-inflammatory Turmeric and Vegetable Thai Curry.

Celebrate with Baked Salmon

It is the season of gathering and celebration and our focus turns to the food that we share with our friends and family. Things can get RICH and sugary!

I like to plan to eat fish or shellfish at least once or twice through the holiday period, on Christmas Eve and shellfish on New Years Eve, so that I know I will be regularly sitting down to lean protein and a healthy dose of omega 3 fatty acids for a food source. I also love that I can have a delicious roast on the table in under twenty minutes when I choose a gorgeous side of wild salmon!

Science finds it incredibly hard to measure the health benefits of nutrition in clinical trials, especially when using supplements, but whilst correlation cannot prove causation, numerous population studies have found that those folks who include cold water fatty fish in their diets enjoy many positive health benefits and I want in on that!

Omega 3’s are correlated with improved cardiovascular health, reduced incidence of dementia and depression and reduced inflammation in the body.

Our standard American diet provides us with an abundance of inflammation promoting omega 6 fatty acids and planning meals that will redress the balance of our lipid profile is a sensible choice. Especially during the stressful holiday season.

Simple, quick and deliciously easy to dress up, make wild salmon a part of your family holiday traditions.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb wild salmon, filet or steak 1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Pat the salmon dry and place on sheet. Drizzle olive oil along the salmon and spread evenly with the back of a spoon or rub a teaspoon of paprika into the flesh of the salmon. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over the fish. Sprinkle fresh rosemary leaves evenly over the fish or cover with a few lemon slices.

Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until ready. The fish will flake and lose its opaqueness when it is ready.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

So you have wrapped all the presents, made all of the food and been outside in the cold for a hike, skate or ski.

Here is a soothing and delicious go-to recipe for warming up your gorgeous self, from the inside out. A hot chocolate recipe that instead of giving you sugar laden empty calories, supports your body with minerals, provides nutrition for the lining of your digestive tract and boosts your metabolism all in one delicious mug.

Raw cacao is rich in our relaxation mineral, magnesium and helps to boost our iron stores. The addition of digestion-soothing ground ginger, blood-sugar-balancing cinnamon and just a pinch of cayenne to kick start you metabolism is what elevates this beverage from being your average hot chocolate to a health supporting elixir.

I added collagen to support optimal gut health and add a dose of protein to this hot chocolate and topped with coconut milk so that a mug that is normally full of nutrition depleting sugar and milk powders becomes rich with nutrition and healthy fat.

Hot Tip: If you know that you are fatigued with a poor functioning thyroid gland or exhausted adrenals, add a pinch of sea salt to support your adrenal health and intensify the chocolate flavour of the drink!

This hot chocolate is self care at Christmas. Eat smarter not less ladies.

So delicious and soothing that even Santa wanted some!

Ingredients

1 tbsp raw cacao
2 tsp grass-fed collagen powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

Put the raw cacao, collagen powder, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne into a large mug.
Add boiling water to the mug 3/4 of the way full
Top the hot chocolate with coconut milk and maple syrup and whisk until frothy and completely blended.
Sip before Santa gets to it!

If chocolate is not your thing! Is this possible? Then you might enjoy this delicious recipe for an immunity boosting, high vitamin C, mineral dense tea. Click here for my recipe for Kukicha Tea.