My soup recipe

Some studies have found that eating a lighter meal in the evening can aid weight loss. If this suits you, soup is a nice hearty meal.

Basic ingredients:

Chicken or vegetable stock [homemade or bought is fine]

1 cup cooked lentils or chick peas

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

2 or 3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 chopped onion

1 cup barley

1 inch piece of grated ginger

1 inch piece of turmeric

1 or 2 tlbs of dark miso [ this is a soy bean paste, you will find it in Asian or health food stores]

Cook all the ingredients in a large pot until just tender, adding the miso at the end] then blend the soup if you like.

Serve it with plenty of chopped fresh herbs and a dollop of yoghurt.
Bon appetit!

Add cayenne and fresh herbs before serving

The variations to this basic soup are endless, try:

- mushrooms and broccoli

- add cumin and paprika for a Moroccan favor


This soup can be frozen quite easily, I often just have a cup as a morning snack in the colder months. Freeze it in individual portions, this way you can have it as a small meal with a slice of wholemeal bread.
Please note that I do not add any oil to this soup, however good oil is essential for health, try a small drizzle of virgin, cold pressed olive oil.
By adding the oil at the end you get all the benefit and you won't change the nature of the oil by cooking it.