RECIPE: Pea & Mint Soup by Alice Yeates, Nutritional Therapist

We have a wholesome protein-packed recipe for you today, suitable for the season and providing the comfort that we need in the cold.

The recipe is from Alice Yeates, our Nutritional Therapist. Alice reviews the menus for our Retreats to ensure they are balanced and support any dietary requirements that our Guests may have. Most of our food is sourced straight from the Farm and the Community Garden and with Alice's expert advice we can all keep healthy!

At this time of year, we often turn to comfort food. Some good and some not so good! But it's something we all do and something that Alice talks about here:

"In our house one of our comfort foods is soup. Last Christmas we all ate together and had a full meal at lunchtime and then had soup for supper. It was a great way not to feel too heavy over the festive period when many of us eat too much if we're not careful."

She notes that "The Chinese believe that we should eat warming foods in the colder months, and I think that's right. I know my body finds cold food hard to deal with in winter. Don't get me wrong, I love salad but I eat far less of it after the clocks go back in October."

"One of the downsides of most soups is the lack of protein", but Alice has a solution for that and today she is sharing her recipe for a comforting delicious soup packed with protein.

Pea & Mint Soup Recipe

This recipe will make 12 portions so you can batch cook for lunches throughout the week. It's wholesome and tasty and has plenty of protein, is gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians/vegans and of course everyone else!

Ingredients

• 8 shallots, finely sliced

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 chilli, deseeded, sliced or whole if you prefer less heat

• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar

• 2 x 400g tins butter beans

• 1.5 litres stock, add extra water if needed

• 1kg frozen peas

• 1kg frozen broad beans (Waitrose and M&S both sell these)

• 50/60g mint, roughly chopped (this is 2 largish bunches)

• Juice of half a lemon (used to taste at the end if needed)

Method

• Fry shallots in olive oil, with a pinch of salt, over a medium heat, until they soften – 10-12 mins

• Add crushed garlic and chilli – fry for 1/2 mins more

• Add white wine vinegar and raise the heat

• Add butter beans with their liquid – cook for another 2/3 mins

• Add stock, peas and broad beans – simmer for 5-7 mins

• Add mint

• Blitz in a pan until blended but not smooth, and simmer for further 5 mins

• Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste and serve

• If you prefer less heat then use a whole chilli and remove it before blitzing.

• You can easily make this a day in advance.

If you'd like more nutritious recipes from Alice then please take a look at her website and sign up for her fortnightly newsletter as she shares recipes regularly.

Alice has known Maryann personally for over 15 years and when we started the Retreats and she qualified as a Nutritional Therapist we knew it would be a great fit for Green Farm.

Over the last few years, as well as advising on the menus, Alice has been chatting with our Retreat Guests. Supporting them with known and unknown health conditions in an informal way. Asking "Do you think your body is trying to tell you something, anything at all?" Usually, this helps Guests to express things that are happening with their bodies, many they haven't identified before.

Only once has Alice spoken with someone who truly wasn't getting any messages from their body and was feeling fully well. Most of our Guests do identify something with Alice's help and relaxed approach. They then find out a little more about how a Nutritional Therapist can support them further.

So many Guests have gained from Alice's expertise so it's a real pleasure to have her support and guidance at Green Farm.

We hope you enjoy the recipe!