Broccoli and Pea Puree

WINTER WARMER SERIES

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We have one month off uni and boy have we hit holiday mode.

Quick 5am workouts at home before a quick breakfast and then quickly out the door to quickly get to uni by 8 am is thankfully behind us, for one month at least. Our mornings now consist of a slightly longer sleep in, a longer yoga session or workout and a slower, more relaxing breakfast.

We don’t only have more time for relaxing mornings, now we can also cook a wholesome lunch at home. Look, this may not seem all that exciting for some but for uni students who have spent three months eating packed quinoa salads out of glass containers, home lunches are kind of a big deal.

Today for lunch we opted for our usual of quinoa, spinach, roasted root vegetables and poached chicken. However seeing as today was a ‘home lunch’ (yes!), we whipped up a broccoli and pea puree to dollop on top.

This green puree is so versatile. You can have it as a side to meal like how we’ve done today, you can smear it on paleo toast, have it as a snack mixed with a handful of nuts or eat it as a soup by adding a little more bone broth. Options are endless!

Ingredients

– 2 heads of broccoli

– The stalks of one bunch of kale

– 1 leek

– 1 cup of frozen peas

– 2-3 cups of beef or chicken bone broth. we used homemade 48hr beef broth.

– 1/2 small onion

– 2 cloves of crushed garlic

– 1 tsp of cumin

– 1 bay leaf

– 1 tsp of turmeric

– 1/2 teaspoon of himalayan salt

– Pepper to taste

– 1/2 – 1 tbsp of coconut oil (for sautéing leek)

Method

1. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Once warm, sauté the onion and garlic until tender.

2. Dice the leek and add to the pan. Stir through for a few minutes, then add the spices and a dash of water.

3. Saute until leek is tender.

4. Add the broccoli, peas and kale stalks and thoroughly mix with the leek for a few minutes.

5. Add your broth, salt, pepper and bay leaf and bring to a gentle boil (basically simmer)

6. Lower the heat and cover for about 20 minutes)

7. Once the kale stalks are tender-ish, remove the puree from the pot and add to a blender. Pulse on high until smooth.

8. Serve!

M + S x

Zucchini & Pea Soup with Poached Chicken and grilled Haloumi

We have entered autumn. That means, we have entered soup season!

We’ve been feeling a little low and run down due to an overload of uni and part time jobs. So  in an attempt to cure our poor sleep deprived and stressed souls, we decided to make a green soup. We love our greens but aren’t really the types to start the morning with a green smoothie so a green soup works for us perfectly. The generous amount of turmeric and garlic gives this delightful meal an immunity boost – just ready to fight off cold and flu season. The added packed chicken also adds a nice touch of protein and the haloumi just tops it off with that ‘creaminess’ that every soup requires!

Go on, make our green soup! It’s super easy

Ingredients – Serves four as an entree or three as a main. 

– Four large zucchinis

– One small head of broccoli

– 1.5 – 2 cups of frozen organic garden peas

– 1 litre of pure water (or vegetable stock if you have one pre-made)

– Half an onion

– 2 cloves of garlic

– 2 heaped teaspoons of ground turmeric

– 1 teaspoon of ground cumin

– 1 Bay leaf

– 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

– A generous pinch of himalayan salt

– Pepper to taste

– A knob of coconut oil

– 2 organic chicken breasts

– 60 grams of Haloumi

– 4 teaspoons of superfood dukkah

Method

1. Start by preparing all your green vegetables. Thoroughly wash them and dice into 2 cm pieces (the size doesn’t matter all that much as they’ll be blended at the end)

2. Heat the coconut oil in a pot and once hot, stir fry the onion and garlic with a dash of water. Once the onion gathers a bit of colour, add another dash of water plus the turmeric and cumin. Let the spices mix with the onion and garlic. This should start to smell very inviting!

3. Next step, add all your veggies, bay leaf and himalayan salt. Let this green goodness tenderise for a couple of minutes

4. Add your 1 litre of water. Put the lid on and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

5. In the meantime, heat up another pot of water with a pinch of salt and dice your chicken breast into 2-3 cm pieces. When the water has reached boiling, add your chicken and let it boil for about 5-7 minutes.

6. Whilst the chicken is cooking, this should give you enough time to prepare your haloumi. You can either place the haloumi in a fry pan to brown the edges or you can place the cheese until a grill. Up to you! This should only take a few minutes

7. When the chicken is ready, (you still want it to be succulent so check it every couple of minutes) strain it and place to side.

8. Return your attention to the soup. The veggies should be quite tender at this point. Now all you need to do is blend it all up with a blender stick (is that what it’s called…..?)

9. Ladle the soup into four bowls. Next place the haloumi and chicken in the middle. Finish with a generous sprinkle of homemade dukkah and fresh parsley

10. You could also toast a comforting thick slice of dark rye bread with a drizzle of olive oil. Our mum’s wholemeal spelt would also work wonderfully.

10. EAT

We hope you like it! Please let us know on instagram (@thymes.two) what you think and if you have any suggestions!

M +S xx

Get some Greens in Ya!

Portobello mushrooms stuffed with a green mash accompanied by a side of sautéed green vegetables

Ingredients

For the Green Pea filling;

– One cup of frozen garden peas

– Half a cup of edamame beans (can find in most asian grocers)

– Half a medium sized avocado

– 30 grams Goats cheese (can omit if keeping it vegan)

– A quarter of a small zucchini grated

– A pinch of himalyan salt

– Pepper

– Oregano

For the sautéed vegetables;

– Brussel sprouts washed and cut in half

– One head of broccoli washed and broken up

– Coconut oil

– One clove of garlic

– Oregano

– Sage

– Pepper

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Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees

2. Start washing and cutting your vegetables so that they are ready to go when you need them.

3. Start prepping the green mixture by first smashing the avocado and goats cheese in a medium sized bowl. Add the green peas and continue smashing. You still want the peas to keep their shape (more or less). Next add the edamame beans. Take the edamame out of their pods and remove the outer coating to make it easier to mash with the other ingredients. Lightly fold through the zucchini to add some moisture to the mixture. Finally combine the salt, pepper and oregano and viola your mash is done!

4. With your two portobello mushrooms, remove the centre with a spoon to create a flat middle. Leave the edges curved so that the mixture can be held in place.

5. Add the mixture to the mushrooms and top with a table spoon of pepita seeds for some crunch. You can choose whatever seed or nut you want, we chose pepita to keep with the green theme.

6. Place in the oven for around 15 minutes or until you start to see the mushroom browning on the outside. *Please note that as the mushrooms contain avocado, its best not to leave them in the oven for too long as it will alter the natural taste and creaminess of the avocado.

7. As your mushrooms are in the oven, you can start sauteing your vegetables that you would have already washed and cut in half prior to making your green mash.

8. Heat a wok with a tiny bit of coconut oil and start sauteing about a teaspoon of garlic until browned. Once browned, add a dash of water with some oregano and sage. (you can choose any spices you wish – we just love oregano and sage!). The water should be bubbling a bit, if you feel it is burning, turn down the heat and add more water.

9. Add the vegetables and cover the wok with a lid for about 8-10 minutes.

10. Your vegetables should be tender by this point so this is when you remove the lid and saute the veggies until you see some browning. Turn off the heat and serve!

11. Take the mushrooms out of the oven, add some olive oil and some more pepper and oregano. Place on a plate with the sautéed veg and viola! A green themed dinner ready to devour!

This asian/italian inspired green mash can be added to your weekend breaky menu! A generous spread of green goodness onto a piece of crusty rye bread would go down a treat.

S + M xx