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'What I really like about the ZOE approach is that it's not a kind of restrictive list of do's and don'ts and things you're not supposed to eat. It's all about adding in the good stuff''
We’ve teamed up with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to bring you seasonal recipes that pack in the plants to support your gut health.
For more information on how to improve your gut health and to start your ZOE journey today, head to zoe.com
Half the Garden Soup:
You don’t have to use all the veg mentioned here and quantities do not need to be precise either. Brilliant if you can get in 10 or more plants, but
seven or eight is still great!
Serves 4-6
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
4-5 banana shallots or 2 medium onions, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 large or 2 small-medium carrots, scrubbed or peeled and chopped
1 leek, trimmed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
A small bunch of chard, stems and leaves separated, stems chopped, leaves shredded
2-3 medium beetroot, peeled and chopped fairly small
A wedge of squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped fairly small, about 200g once prepped
1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes, chopped, or about 400g fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped
A fistful of runner beans, de-stringed and roughly chopped, or French/green beans, de-stalked and
chopped
About 750ml veg stock
A handful of cavolo nero and/or Russian kale leaves, removed from the stalks and shredded
A couple of handfuls of peas, fresh or frozen
1 tin borlotti or cannellini beans, drained
Leaves from a couple of sprigs of thyme
Extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the shallots or onions and a pinch of salt,
get them sizzling then turn down the heat and let them sweat for about 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, leek and garlic and sweat for about 10 minutes until the carrots are starting to become tender.
Add the chopped chard stalks and the beetroot and squash. Add the tinned tomatoes now too, if
using. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the chopped runner or green beans. Stir and cook for
another few minutes, then add the stock. There should be enough liquid to just cover the veg. Make
it up with a little water if you need to. Increase the heat to bring to the boil, then reduce the heat
and simmer for 10 minutes.
Now add the shredded kale, the chard leaves, the peas and the tomatoes, and cook for a couple of minutes, until the leaves have wilted down. Finally, stir in the tinned beans and the thyme leaves and simmer for a couple of minutes more. Taste and add more salt, and some pepper,
as needed.
Serve straight away, ladled into bowls, with a trickle of extra virgin oil over each, or a good dollop of the Pestomega.
Pestomega
This glorious green mixture is rich with plant-based
omega 3 oils (hence the name) and extremely delicious to boot. In this case I’ve doubled up the nuts/seeds, and the greens, and the oils, to make it a real multi-plant affair – a 10-planter no less.
Serves 4 with pasta, 6-8 as a swirl or dressing for a soup or stew
50g walnut pieces
50g pumpkin seeds
25g hulled hemp seeds (optional)
50g flat leaf parsley leaves, plus some nasturtium or rocket leaves if you have them
Leaves from a couple of sprigs of thyme
A small bunch of chives, snipped
1 small clove of garlic, roughly chopped
50g Parmesan or vegetarian alternative, or Cheddar, finely grated, or 10g dried seaweed flakes,
rehydrated in water (optional)
Up to 150ml extra virgin olive oil and/or extra virgin rapeseed oil
A squeeze of lemon juice, plus a grate of the zest
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
If you’ve got time, toast the nuts and seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for a few minutes
to really boost their flavour and aroma. Leave to cool slightly.
You can make this by hand, chopping everything as I have in the video, which gives you a chance to
choose the texture and keep everything a bit more coarse. Chop the nuts and seeds first, to coarse
crumbs, then the herbs and garlic, until they are all roughly chopped, then combine both together and chop some more. When you have the texture you like, transfer to a bowl, stir in the oil/s, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste, plus the zest.