Recipes from a Winter Retreat!
There's something about winter that asks us to slow down. To gather close, to soften, to let the season do what it's designed to do.
At our recent Winter Sound Retreat, food was part of that slowing. I wanted the meals to feel like an extension of the practice. Warm, grounding, made with care and shared around the table. Two recipes in particular kept being asked about, so I'm sharing them here for you to bring into your own kitchen.
Both are simple. Both are the kind of cooking that rewards a little patience. And both taste even better the next day.
Vegetable Minestrone
This is a slow-simmered soup that builds its flavour quietly over time. I let mine sit on the lowest heat for hours, almost slow-cooked, so the vegetables sweat and create their own moisture and hold in all the juices. The kale goes in fresh right at the end, so it stays bright. A spoonful of pesto on top makes it.
Serves 6
What you need:
2 onions, diced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (or more, to taste)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, smashed
4 celery sticks, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
400ml fresh Roma tomato puree (2 jars)
250g cooked beans (or 2 cans borlotti beans)
1 litre water
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
1 bunch parsley
2 tablespoons homemade vegetable stock paste (or salt and pepper to taste)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Basil pesto, to serve (optional)
Grated Parmesan, to serve (optional)
How I make it:
Sauté the onion, smoked paprika, cumin, ginger, fennel, garlic, celery and carrots in the olive oil in a large pot for 5 minutes.
Roughly chop the kale and set it aside to add right at the end.
Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, beans and a little of the water. Put the lid on and let the vegetables sweat and create their own moisture, holding in all the juices.
Bring to the boil, adding a bit more water, then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until thick and the carrots are tender. I keep mine on the lowest setting for around 8 hours, almost slow-cooked.
The next day, fold in the kale and the vegetable stock paste, bring back to the boil, then drop back to a low simmer.
Serve in bowls with a spoonful of pesto and grated Parmesan if you like. Really, really yummy.
Chocolate Brownie Cookies
These came together as a little something sweet to share, and they disappeared fast. They're almond-based, naturally sweetened with dates and maple, and the secret is the Healthy Chef cacao powder. The texture is everything here, so keep the almond meal somewhere between fine and chopped. You want that crunch.
Makes about 18
What you need:
500g roasted almonds
454g Medjool dates, pitted
3 tablespoons Healthy Chef dark cacao powder (or a good dark cacao powder)
2 pinches of salt
250ml maple syrup (or honey, if you're not keeping it vegan)
How I make them:
Blitz the almonds in a food processor to a chunky almond meal, somewhere between fine and chopped, around 1 to 2mm. Keep some crunch, so don't take it too fine.
Add the dates and salt and whiz again. The almonds will go a little finer but should still hold that rough texture.
Add the cacao powder in with the dates and blitz again to a rough texture.
Pour in the maple syrup and mix to a sticky texture, not wet, that you can roll into balls.
Take a dessert spoon of mixture, roll into a ball and press flat onto baking paper.
Bake in an oven preheated to 160°C for 20 to 30 minutes. To test, the biscuit should hold together and feel chewy when you press on it, not overcooked.
A closing thought
If you make either of these, I'd love for you to slow down with them. Let the soup simmer longer than feels necessary. Roll the cookies by hand. Cooking can be its own kind of practice, a way of caring for yourself and the people around your table.
Wherever we meet, we're home.
