My goal in January is always the same: eat more whole foods, cook from scratch and a real focus on gut health. This includes eating as many fermented foods as possible and providing lots of great prebiotic foods to help feed the good bacteria.
Once you focus on feeding good bacteria and encouraging a really diverse microbiome, everything else will take care of itself. For me there’s no need for going low-fat, cutting carbohydrates or any of the other typical January sayings. This time last week we were having brandy butter on the last of the mince pies for breakfast, so let’s not be too hasty.
Once you embrace a balanced, practical approach to food, it all becomes much easier. Having gadgets such as a slow cooker really helps. I love mine and use it at least once a week. It uses the same amount of energy as a light bulb so it’s more sustainable than slow cooking on a hob or in the oven. The only work required is in the planning, remembering to turn it on in the morning and having ingredients in.
I usually do double batches of everything in the slow cooker, so that’s two days’ worth of dinners taken care of. Stews, curries and soups work best in the slow cooker and these are also the best recipes for packing in lots of vegetables and extracting maximum nutrients and flavour from meat. I like to amp up our vegetable intake in January, and have meat almost as an afterthought, like a little fried chorizo on soup or a sprinkle of crispy pancetta with roast vegetables.
This soup is a real meal in a bowl, and such a favourite in my house. It’s a great way to use up leftovers, too. Any shredded chicken, pork or turkey can be used. Add some ginger, soy sauce and coriander, then serve with a dollop of peanut rayu and kimchi for a soup with more kick.
The restorative benefits of soup are widely known. Ideally it is made using good-quality stock that has been simmered low and slow. I use my slow cooker to make stock and find it so convenient.
I’ve added noodles to this soup, but I sometimes just add any pasta that’s in the cupboard, or beans or lentils. The beauty of simmering anything in a broth is that it absorbs all of those gorgeous savoury flavours. Add handfuls of herbs such as dill or parsley and a squeeze of lemon. This is a very versatile and delicious soup that you can make your own.
Recipe: Slow cooker chicken noodle soup
Lilly’s kitchen tips
- Add a few tablespoons of kimchi to this soup to brighten it up and bring some heat as well as providing valuable probiotics
- Store chicken carcasses leftover from roast dinners in the freezer. Once you have accumulated a few, and once you have time, simmer them in the slow cooker
- Add a splash of apple cider vinegar to your brown broths as they simmer to help release all of the nutrients
