Tom Yum - how to make it

Possibly one of my favourite soups ever. There is something very cleansing about this soup. I always feel fab the day after I have eaten it.
What you will need to make it:


1000ml water
6 sticks lemongrass, lightly crushed
4 fresh coriander roots, crushed
110g/4oz fresh galangal, peeled and sliced (available from Asian supermarkets)
8 tomatoes, cut into quarters, seeds removed
6 kaffir lime leaves
1-2 limes, juice only
3 red chillies, thinly sliced
75ml/3fl oz fish sauce (nam pla), or to taste
2 generous teaspoons of Tom Yum paste
approx 20 raw tiger prawns, shelled, gutted and split in half
Some people also add small chunks of chicken breast but I prefer not to

To serve


1 small bunch fresh coriander, leaves
1 small bunch fresh Thai basil if available or just use Italian basil
lime wedges

Tom Yum Soup - Healthy spicy yummy

Beetroot blend to detox

And of course the colours of nature left over in my juicer : )

super nice juice

I have dusted off the juicer which sadly I did not use at all last year. Every year when it is down off the shelf I tend to use it throughout summer and always feel the benefits....well my hair , skin and nails do : )
Yesterday I was juicing beetroot, ginger and celery...forgot to put the top on the juicer and my kitchen resembled a scence from dexter - doh!

Today I have made a pint of something sweet with a little zing. It tastes delicious so give it a go:
juice one large beetroot (washed but skin kept on!)
5 large carrots
large handful of fresh corriander leaf
half a large brocoli (I juiced about half the stem under the floret bit)

A great drink for when it is warm outside

I read an article on the web yeasterday saying that Beetrot is one of the key cleansers you can drink but obviously if you boil it you lose alot of the goodness. It is rich in potassium and somewhat comparable to bananas in that respect. One problem with beetroot is that it can cause you to have nausea or even a headache the first few times that you try it in a juice concentration as I am told it acts like breaking a damn holding back the toxins in your body. A good idea is to start with a bit and build up till your body is happy with the amount. I felt a bit unwell for about 30 mins yeasterday after my first raw beetroot juice but today my body is quite happy with it. There is a doctor at a hospital in Hungary who has apparently been using Beetroot as a menas of treating cancer for many many years.... I will let you do your own reasearch on that one!
Enjoy the day!

Tuna Salad without the Tuna ????

So we had enjoyed a busy weekend in Bristol and the weather had been slowly getting warmer over the last month....it got to that point where you think for the first time in 7 months...wow I can really eat a big juicy salad...a tuna or nicoise salad......
On arriving at the supermarket they were all out of fresh tuna and so we opted for fillet steak which we sliced thinly and fried quickly so it was still a bit pink inside - great replacement. The salad was complimented with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and brown sugar marinated french beans.....lovely : )
All fresh, juicy and relatively healthy.