Vietnamese Noodle Style Chicken Noodle Soup

  Ingredients

4 Chicken breast

(preferably from organic free-range, chicken)

3 litres of chicken stock

1 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt.

6 tbsp of fish sauce

For the soup:

280g dry rice noodles (find these in Asian super markets many are gluten free)

280g of broccoli

Fresh coriander, roughly chopped

2 spring onions  thinly sliced

Pinch of freshly ground pepper

4 wedges of lemon

1 Fresh red chillie chopped (remove the seeds)

 method

In a large saucepan, poach the chicken breast in the stock, salt and fish sauce. Put the broccoli in a steamer over the saucepan for the last 6 minutes.

Whilst the chicken is poaching, Fill a chef’s glass bowl with boiling water and immerse the rice noodles in water. Cover the bowl and leave for a few minutes until the noodles are soft. Drain and rinse with warm water to get rid excess starch. Place the cooked rice noodles into soup bowls.

Remove the chicken from the stock after 10 minutes or until cooked through, make sure the juices run clear. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces. Place one breast per portion onto the noodles.

Divide the sliced spring onions and coriander between the four bowls

Share the stock between the four bowls and garnish with the chopped red chilli and ground black pepper.

Health Benefits

Great meal for those wanting to build muscle, lose weight or boost immunity.

Research has also found that a compound found in chicken soup – carnosine – could really helped the body’s immune system to fight the early stages of flu! 

Basic tomato sauce

Ingredients 

• 2 tbsp Lucy bees coconut butter
• 1 large red onion chopped
• 1 large while onion chopped 
• 2 garlic  cloves, crushed
• 2 x 400g cans of organic chopped tomatoes 
•  ½ tsp mixed Italian herbs
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 large handful basil leaves, torn into small pieces
• pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt  freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Heat the coconut butter in a deep frying pan and gently cook the onion and garlic until softened. Stir in the tomatoes, Italian herbs and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for 30 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. This can be left chunky or blended in a food processor for a smooth sauce.

Almond Pancakes with blueberries

Almond pancakes with blueberries

• 1 cup ground almonds (also called almond meal/almond flour)
• 2 eggs (organic and free range preferably)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2  Teaspoons of coconut butter we used Lucy bees (http://www.lucybee.co )
• 2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen will work)
• cinnamon
• vanilla essence

Mix almonds, eggs water and oil together  to make a batter

Grease a frying pan with coconut butter get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium

 It should take a few minutes or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife - the other side will need a few seconds only - then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

Put Blueberries into a saucepan with enough water to cover them, add cinnamon and vanilla essence and poach for about 5 minutes until most of the water has evaporated and the blueberries are soft.

layer pancake and blueberries and you could serve with Greek/live natural yogurt for added protein.Makes about Six mini pancakes and serves two

Red Lentil Salad with Halomi

Red Lentil Salad 128g red lentils

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tsp chopped fresh root ginger

2 tsp wheat-free vegetable bouillon powder

100g fresh mixed salad leaves, rocket, watercress and baby spinach are a delicious option

1/2 cucumber cubed

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or mint

4 lemon wedges

100g of haloumi cheese

METHOD

How to make warm red lentil salad

1. Rinse and drain the lentils and place in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the shallots, garlic, root ginger and bouillon powder and cover in cold water. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and drain away the excess water.

2.Heat a medium sized frying pan over medium heat. Add slices of haloumi and cook for 1-2 minutes each side or until golden.

3. Divide the salad leaves between serving plates, chop cucumber, half tomatoes and pile the red lentils and haloumi on top. Garnish with the coriander or mint and lemon wedges (for squeezing) and serve.

Teriyaki Salmon (serves two)

Teriyaki Salmon

• 2 salmon fillets
• 2 tbsp tamari (wheat free soy sauce) or dark soy sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 small chilli finely chopped
• 2 tbsp mirin (Japanese rice cooking wine)
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 chunk of ginger, finely grated (the easiest was to peel fresh ginger is to scrape the skin off using the edge of a spoon then grate it as you would grate cheese)
• 1 sheet of soba / egg noodles
• bunch of coriander chopped
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• extra lime juice
• stir fry vegetables

Preparation method

Heat 1tbsp of sesame seed oil in a pan and fry the ginger, garlic and chopped chilli.

Add the zest and juice of the lime and pour in the tamari/ soy sauce. Add the maple syrup or xylitol and cook for 1 minute or until reduced and sticky.

Meanwhile, stir fry some vegetable and pan-fry the two pieces of salmon for 2 minutes each side in a hot griddle pan.

When the sauce is reduced add the salmon to the teriyaki sauce frying pan and coat.

Cook and drain the noodles, adding the sesame oil, seasoning and coriander and a squeeze of lime. Serve the salmon on a bed of noodles with extra vegetables and top with chopped coriander.

I have adapted this recipe so it contains maple syrup instead of cane sugar, although this is a source of sugar pure maple syrup also contains manganese, zinc and natural antioxidants which are important nutrients for a healthy immune system.