Category: family

Day four illness and I was well am truely in the eye of the storm, I literally didnt get out of bed till 1830 and even then it was cook some food for amy and myself, I had tried to spend the day working from bed and it was kind of successful, I managed to get some stuff done and only ended up watching one movie. in the end I sat down and did a bit of research on meals that I should cook to beat the flu and found this really good recipe on Toms Kitchen, at first when I saw it I really didnt think that any of the ingredients would go together and that dinner would be a complete failure and we would end up getting a take away, which because its now 2018 we will not do. this year is about getting healthy and fit just like 2016. I still haven’t run a marathon in under 3 hours, thats like my life time goal, I really really want to run a marathon un three hours.

well anyway back to dinner, if you are feeling under the weather at the moment, trust me go out and cook this meal, I have woken up at 7am this morning feeling tones better and even think Im going to go out and take some photos. The whole meal was really easy to cook and didnt really take that long. all the ingredients you need are.

1 medium onion, chopped*

Olive oil for sauteing

1 head garlic, cloves separated and chopped fine

4 small hot chile peppers, chopped (fresh are best, but dried ones like chipotles and chiles de arbol work great, too. Just rehydrate them in hot water for a few minutes before chopping. )

1  tablespoon dried oregano and/or thyme*

1 28-32 oz can or jar of organic whole tomatoes or tomato puree (I use home-canned tomatoes)

1 can garbanzo beans (chic Peas). cook them from scratch by all means; but if you’re feeling sick, don’t be shy about opening a can. drained*

Sea salt ( I salted to taste so put in quite alot as I hadnt really moved all day so wanted to get my salt levels back up)

you can also have some nice little add ons aswell.

Limes—enough for half a lime for each serving

Some good but not fancy melting cheese—I use Organic Valley Sharp Cheddar—grated, about ¼ cup per bowl of soup. (some people say you shouldnt have dairy, ignore those people. in this situation cheese is something to pick your sprites up)

1 bunch of something green—preferably cilantro, but parsley works well too—chopped

Chopped red cabbage, about 1 cup ( I put the red cabbage in the soup to cook for like 2 minutes at the end)

Directions.

Put a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, and coat bottom with olive oil. Add the chopped onions (if using) and let them saute, stirring occasionally, until they’re translucent.

Add the garlic and the chiles and saute them, stirring to avoid burning, for a minute or two.

Now add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt. If you are using whole canned tomatoes, use a wooden spoon to break them up as they cook.

Add the beans, and let the tomato mixture cook and reduce for a few minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid any sticking to the bottom and burning.

Now, take the same container the tomatoes came in—whether store-bought can or home jar—and fill it with water.

Add the water to the pot, and bring to a boil and add the Red Cabbage.

Turn heat to low, correct for salt

To serve: Add grated cheese (if using) to an empty soup bowl. Ladle a good amount of hot soup into the bowl, making sure that the cheese is completely covered (this will ensure it melts). Cover top with final garnishes—chopped greens. in the recipe it says squeeze a lime over the top, we forgot todo this so if you cook this dish try the lime and let me know.

After I cooked this I really wanted to see what the outside world was like so we travelled to the local sainsburys to grab two muller corner, which was an amazing idea! here are my photos from yesterday, I hope you like them. and please if you do cook this meal, send me a photo I want to see if!

(oh and yes you really need to add that much garlic)