black pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
double cream or full-fat organic plain yoghurt, to serve
Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat and sauté the onion until soft. Add the stock and potato. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20
minutes. Add the watercress, season with salt and pepper, add the cumin and cayenne pepper, and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and purée in batches in a blender or using a stick
blender. If you care about keeping the vibrant green of the watercress, after blending, pour the soup into a metal bowl and place it in a sink full of ice-cold water. Pour into glass jars with lids
and serve hot or cold with a swirl of the cream or yoghurt.
SOLO COOKERS: Freeze extra portions in the jars.
NOTE: The added bonus of freezing your Soup in a Jar: it makes your tote-able totally spill-free. This is a summer soup, but if
you’re making it in cooler times, feel free to replace the onion with leek.
Green(er) Variation:
POTATO-FREE WATERCRESS SOUP
If you want to make this soup even cleaner, replace the potato with fennel or cauliflower. Or omit altogether and add one soft avocado instead, once the soup has cooled but
before you purée it. You can also choose to sweat the onion in a little stock rather than butter.
This is the section where I take the meals that everyone loves (but wishes could be healthier) and redo them with a same-same-but-sustainable-and-nutrient-dense twirl.
PS I’ve thrown in a few kids’ and blokes’ favourites for good measure.
DECONSTRUCTED HAMBURGER
in a bowl
SERVES
This dish essentially takes the best bits of a burger and dumps them in a bowl, as an artsy salad creation. I like to make this quite a roughed-up
salad and crumble the patties a little. You might, too.
PATTIES
600 g lean organic beef mince
1 small onion
½ tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil, butter or ghee
1 cup (100 g) grated cheese
SALAD
4 large handfuls of rocket leaves
2 carrots, grated
1 avocado, diced
1 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon dried thyme, or a few sprigs of thyme
2 cups (300 g) Par-Cooked ’n’ Frozen beetroot (see here ), thawed
ACCOMPANIMENTS
2 tablespoons harissa paste or 1 tablespoon harissa powder mixed with a little water and olive oil
1 cup (250 ml) full-fat organic plain yoghurt
mustard
Homemade Sauerkraut (see here ) or Fermented Cucumbers (see here )
To make the patties, combine the mince, onion and parsley in a large bowl, season to taste and mix well using your hands. Divide the mixture into 4 even-sized patties. Heat the
oil, butter or ghee in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the patties on both sides, for 5–8 minutes in total. Sprinkle the cheese on top and cover the pan for a couple of minutes to allow
the patties to cook through and the cheese to melt.
Meanwhile, divide the rocket, carrot and avocado among 4 bowls. Remove the patties from the pan and place one on top of each salad. Turn the heat to low and cook the onion in
the meat juices. Take a good 5 minutes or so to ‘sweat’ the onion, so it caramelises a little. Deglaze with the vinegar before the onion catches, then add the thyme and cook a little
longer, until the onion is very soft. Add to the bowls. Finally, toss the beetroot in the same pan to heat through. Remove and place on top of salads. Stir a swirl of harissa through the yoghurt,
then serve the salads with the yoghurt, mustard and sauerkraut or cucumbers.
SOLO COOKERS: Freeze 3 of the patties (before cooking them) and adjust the remaining ingredients to suit.
Optional Extras:
▶ WHEY-GOOD MAYO
(see here )
▶ HALVED CHERRY TOMATOES
▶ BEETROOT AND APPLE RELISH
(see here ) instead of the beetroot.
SUSTAINABLE FISH ’N’ CHIPS
SERVES
The great thing about this take on the fast-food fave is it allows you to use
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
double cream or full-fat organic plain yoghurt, to serve
Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat and sauté the onion until soft. Add the stock and potato. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20
minutes. Add the watercress, season with salt and pepper, add the cumin and cayenne pepper, and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and purée in batches in a blender or using a stick
blender. If you care about keeping the vibrant green of the watercress, after blending, pour the soup into a metal bowl and place it in a sink full of ice-cold water. Pour into glass jars with lids
and serve hot or cold with a swirl of the cream or yoghurt.
SOLO COOKERS: Freeze extra portions in the jars.
NOTE: The added bonus of freezing your Soup in a Jar: it makes your tote-able totally spill-free. This is a summer soup, but if
you’re making it in cooler times, feel free to replace the onion with leek.
Green(er) Variation:
POTATO-FREE WATERCRESS SOUP
If you want to make this soup even cleaner, replace the potato with fennel or cauliflower. Or omit altogether and add one soft avocado instead, once the soup has cooled but
before you purée it. You can also choose to sweat the onion in a little stock rather than butter.
This is the section where I take the meals that everyone loves (but wishes could be healthier) and redo them with a same-same-but-sustainable-and-nutrient-dense twirl.
PS I’ve thrown in a few kids’ and blokes’ favourites for good measure.
DECONSTRUCTED HAMBURGER
in a bowl
SERVES
This dish essentially takes the best bits of a burger and dumps them in a bowl, as an artsy salad creation. I like to make this quite a roughed-up
salad and crumble the patties a little. You might, too.
PATTIES
600 g lean organic beef mince
1 small onion
½ tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil, butter or ghee
1 cup (100 g) grated cheese
SALAD
4 large handfuls of rocket leaves
2 carrots, grated
1 avocado, diced
1 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon dried thyme, or a few sprigs of thyme
2 cups (300 g) Par-Cooked ’n’ Frozen beetroot (see here ), thawed
ACCOMPANIMENTS
2 tablespoons harissa paste or 1 tablespoon harissa powder mixed with a little water and olive oil
1 cup (250 ml) full-fat organic plain yoghurt
mustard
Homemade Sauerkraut (see here ) or Fermented Cucumbers (see here )
To make the patties, combine the mince, onion and parsley in a large bowl, season to taste and mix well using your hands. Divide the mixture into 4 even-sized patties. Heat the
oil, butter or ghee in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the patties on both sides, for 5–8 minutes in total. Sprinkle the cheese on top and cover the pan for a couple of minutes to allow
the patties to cook through and the cheese to melt.
Meanwhile, divide the rocket, carrot and avocado among 4 bowls. Remove the patties from the pan and place one on top of each salad. Turn the heat to low and cook the onion in
the meat juices. Take a good 5 minutes or so to ‘sweat’ the onion, so it caramelises a little. Deglaze with the vinegar before the onion catches, then add the thyme and cook a little
longer, until the onion is very soft. Add to the bowls. Finally, toss the beetroot in the same pan to heat through. Remove and place on top of salads. Stir a swirl of harissa through the yoghurt,
then serve the salads with the yoghurt, mustard and sauerkraut or cucumbers.
SOLO COOKERS: Freeze 3 of the patties (before cooking them) and adjust the remaining ingredients to suit.
Optional Extras:
▶ WHEY-GOOD MAYO
(see here )
▶ HALVED CHERRY TOMATOES
▶ BEETROOT AND APPLE RELISH
(see here ) instead of the beetroot.
SUSTAINABLE FISH ’N’ CHIPS
SERVES
The great thing about this take on the fast-food fave is it allows you to use
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