Vegan lunch for 2

Summer 2017 is beckoning and I don’t know about you but I’m already smelling spring in the air. Yesterday’s weather was simply gorgeous and after a long and sunny walk in Richmond Park, complete with plenty of deer spotting, I was inspired to conjure up something light, healthy and skin friendly for lunch. After all, visualising one’s beach body is always a sobering prospect in February so nutritious and lo-cal were the key requirements for the menu.

My lovely mum who is visiting from Sweden was my lunch date. Her skin beats most 40-year-olds and she is most definitely proof that you are what you eat. She simply glows.We opted for several dishes, served all at once, which makes lunch a bit more interesting and aesthetically pleasing I find. This sort of menu is also perfect as it means you can mix and match the various components until your heart is content.Swap soups, change the ingredients in the salads, add lentils, roasted veg, variations on leaves, beans, peas etc. You can really be very creative, or just stick to what’s in your fridge. It is a tried and tested method and you can’t really go wrong.

Here is what our lunch consisted of today:

green juice
clear soup with potato, onion, leeks and chilli with cavalo nero sprinkles.
cavalo nero and celery salad with a ginger and sesame dressing.
cherry tomatoes, avocados and lots of coriander with apple cider vinegar and olive oil.

Totally delicious and utterly filling too.

Green Juice

1 cucumber

3 celery stalks

1/2 fennel

2 apples

1 lemon

Ginger root (about 3,5cm – hot!!!!)

How to: Stick all in your juicer and it should give you about 500ml deliciously light green juice.

Potato, Leek and Onion soup with Chili

1 large potato, cut into chunks

1 charlotte onion, chopped

1/4 leek, sliced thinly

1-2 cm Ginger root, finely chopped

1 tsp Marigold bouillon powder

1/2 pot water

1/2 tsp chilli flakes (or more if you like it spicy)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Olive oil

How to: Fry the onion and leek in olive oil in your pan. Once softened add the ginger and the bouillon powder, also at this stage add chilli flakes and water and let simmer. Add the chopped potatoes and cook until tender. Server with chopped cavolo nero (or any sort of kale) on top.

Cavalo Nero and Celery Salad with Ginger and Sesame Dressing

6-8 cavalo nero leaves (a darkish kale)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

How to: Cut out the central core and chop the leaves into small strips. Mix the chopped celery and the spring onion into a bowl.

Ginger and Sesame Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp miso paste

1-2 tsp Sesame oil

Ginger root, chopped finely (about 1,5 cm)

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp water

Salt & Pepper

How to: Blend all ingredients in a blender (or use a hand blender). Add more water if you want a thinner consistency. Pour over salad. Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 3 days.

Tomato, Avocado and Coriander Salad

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 avocado, cubed

Handful of coriander leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar (I use Biona or Bragg’s)