3 Comforting & Healthy Recipes to get through a chilly January

In the winter, all I want to eat is comforting, hearty food, and especially over Christmas, I probably eat a little too much of it! In January I still want the comfort and to feel full, but with a bit of health and a lot of veg thrown in. It’s a great way to recover from the over-indulging, and I always feel better when I eat better. I don’t know if that’s psychological or not, but it’s true!

There are lots of different recipes to choose from, but these are 3 of my staples which I fall back on time after time. They all pack a huge veggie punch, and don’t feel like diet food either! I’ve included a stir-fry, soup and curry recipe. The stir-fry is quick and easy to cook, perfect for staving off any Chinese takeaway cravings. The carrot soup is warming, and ideal to cook in a batch so there’s some for lunch the next day (or the whole week!) too, and a veggie curry which is one of my favourite Friday or Saturday night treats, and much healthier than ordering in.

These recipes can be enjoyed on any day of the week, for lunch or dinner, and the soup and curry sauce freeze really well too! The recipes are below – let me know what you think! I’d also love to know what you like to cosy up with a bowl of this time of year 🙂

Spicy Stir-fry Veg
(serves 2)
You will need:
Mixed sliced veg – whatever you fancy! Peppers, carrots, beans, cabbage etc…
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 tsp 5 spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp low salt soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
Fresh red chilli (optional), seeds removed, finely chopped
1tsp runny honey

Method:
Heat the oil over a low heat, with the garlic chilli and ginger, until you can smell the garlic cooking. Add in the 5 spice and vegetables, and turn up the heat to high. Fry for 5-10 minutes, to cook the veggies, mixing constantly.
Add the soy sauce, rice wine and honey, mix well and cook for another 2 mins.
Serve with noodles or rice and enjoy!

Winter Spiced Carrot Soup
(makes 3 portions)
You will need:
500g carrots, cut into 2cm chunks
400g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 vegetable stock pot
½ tsp nutmeg
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 small cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Bouquet garnis
Pinch salt & pepper

Method:
Boil the kettle.
Put all ingredients into a casserole pot, and cover with boiled water. Mix in the stock well.
Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 1 hour.
Remove the cinnamon stick and bouquet garnis, and blend until smooth.
Serve – it’s delicious with a slice of garlic bread!

Veggie Curry
Curry is one of my favourite things to eat. This is a recipe I’ve posted before, and cook all the time. The sauce is easy to make and can be used with veggies, meat or fish. At the moment, I love potatoes, chickpeas and peppers in mine, but any veggies will work really well!

The recipe is here – http://bit.ly/2B6amoH