Gluten free - grain free - dairy free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free - vegetarian
    This soup is wonderfully thick and 'creamy', without any cream!  Soup is one of my go-to meals when it needs to be easy.  I love that you can just throw everything in a pot, let it cook a while, blend it up and voila- an yummy, nutritious meal.  My other regular, go-to soup recipe is Sweet Potato Chorizo Soup.  I also love a good Pea and Ham Soup, and when I need a comforting, immune-boosting soup, I never go past this Chicken and Corn Chowder.
    That being said, this soup recipe has one extra step if you have the time, and believe me, it's worth it.  Roast the cauliflower!  If you need to be quick, you can just boil it up in the stock with the rest of the ingredients, but if you are able to roast it first, DO IT!!  It gives the cauliflower such a lovely, nutty, caramalised depth of flavour that boiling along won't give it. 
    I usually serve this soup with some home made garlic bread, and I find it's enough for our family of 4 for 2 meals.  I freeze half of it for another day when I need a super quick meal. 

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized head of cauliflower
• 2 large brown onions, roughly chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 6 large potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 .5 Litres (6 cups) chicken OR vegetable stock
• About 1 Tablespoon oil for frying in (I use coconut oil)
  
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. 
• Cut cauliflower into small florets and place on a lined baking tray.  Spray or drizzle with a little oil and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Roast cauliflower in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.  Do not let the tips brown too much or they will taste burnt and add a bitterness and discoloration to the soup.  The lower oven temperature helps to not overcook them.
• While the cauliflower is roasting, heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the chopped onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes until they are soft.  Do not brown or caramalise them.
• Stir in the diced potatoes (and chopped cauliflower florets if you're not roasting them first) and cover with the stock. 
• Bring to the boil over high heat, with the lid on, and then lower heat to a simmer. 
• Simmer until the potatoes are quite soft.  Add the roasted cauliflower for the last couple of minutes of simmering, making sure the stems are nice and soft.
• Remove from heat and blend the soup until it is very smooth.  I do this with a hand-held 'stick mixer', but you could also transfer it into a blender or food processor. 
• Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. 
• Serve garnished with a little grated parmesan or manchego (sheep) cheese, or chopped chives, or cracked pepper, with some home made garlic bread. 

Gluten free - grain free - can be dairy free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free - vegetarian
This is a recipe I created after a friend described some amazing Vegetarian Nachos she ate from a food truck!  Took me a couple of trials to get the balance of flavours right, by my whole family loves this (although that could be more to do with the fact that it's a treat to have chips for dinner!).
    You don't have to put cheese on top- it's still super yummy without it, especially if you serve it with guacamole!  I fry up all the ingredients in the pan, put some cheese on top and place under the grill (broiler) to melt the cheese. I serve it with corn chips on the side.   I'm not a fan of putting it all in a dish with the chips under the filling and putting it in the oven- I don't like the soggy chips on the bottom and the burnt chips sticking out at the top!  Up to you, though!  We use plain corn chips (ingredients should be just corn, oil and salt), and organic if possible.  Blue corn chips can be a fun change- whilst quite normal in America, they haven't become as popular in Australia.  These are also made with another American-staple :  Black Beans.  These are not common on Aussie supermarket shelves, but I get mine from my local organic food store.  If you struggle to find them, use Kidney Beans.
    If you don't want to use cheese or corn chips, this is also a really nice meal served over brown rice.

I find this is enough for two meals for our family of 4.  I freeze the second portion for later for a quick and easy meal.
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil (coconut or olive)
  

• 2 large onions, diced
• 1 paper bag full of mushrooms, diced
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 green capsicum, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 170g can tomato paste, plus 3x cans full of water
• 1 heaped Tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 heaped Tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 heaped Tablespoon smokey paprika
• 2 heaped Tablespoons cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 x 425g cans (BPA free) Black Beans
• 1/2 bunch coriander, chopped (and some reserved for garnish)
• Cheese of choice (optional)
• Corn chips

For Guacamole:

• 2 avocados
• Juice of half a large lime
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• In a very large, heavy based pan over medium heat, place the oil and onions.  Fry until soft and starting to colour
• Add the mushroom and cook till soft and significantly reduced in size
• Add the garlic and capsicums and fry, stirring for 1 minute
• Add the tomato paste and water, spices, salt and pepper, and black beans.  Stir well.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes to let the flavours infuse.  If it starts to get too dry, add another can full of water. 
• Stir in the coriander leaves at the end.
• Taste and season further if required.
• If not adding cheese, serve with corn chips, or over rice.
• If adding cheese, smooth out the top of the vegetables in the pan, and spread desired amount evenly over the top of the vegetables.  Place under a pre-heated hot grill (broiler) until cheese is melted and golden brown.  Serve in bowls with chips or rice.  Garnish with reserved coriander.

For the Guacamole:

• Mash the avocado flesh in a bowl with a fork, then stir in lime juice and salt and pepper.  You can also add a little chopped coriander if you like.
• tip for keeping the Guacamole from going brown:  leave the avocado seeds in it until you are ready to use.  If you don't use all of it, put the seeds back in, cover it and keep it in the fridge. 

Gluten free - dairy free - refined sugar free - nut free - egg free - vegetarian
   This is a quick-and-easy post for you today...something that I've thrown together a few times (no doubt a little differently each time) that I thought I'd write down for you.  The original inspiration came from something my little sis' threw together one night when we were visiting, but I've added and subtracted to make it my own. 
    In case you haven't picked up on it by now, Sweet Potato is my all-time favourite vege, and I'm always keen to try it out in new ways.  You can also find my Sweet Potato Soup and Sweet Potato Bake on the blog.  This recipe is boiled!  It has lots of lovely immune boosting properties, with coconut oil, garlic and ginger, and lots of yummy veges.  You can serve it as a complete meal, or with some cooked meat on the side (crumbed chicken or fish, sausages, steak, or pork chops would be my pick). 

Ingredients (for a main dish for 4 people)

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes (I leave the skin on, but you can peel it if you wish)
• two handfuls of green beans OR snow peas
  
• 2 large fresh corn cobs
• one large brown onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2cm knob ginger
• 1 tablespoon oil or butter for frying (I use coconut oil)

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or organic butter if you eat dairy, or olive oil)- melted
  
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 teaspoon smokey paprika
• a pinch or two of chili powder- more if you like it hot.
• a few grinds each of salt and pepper

Method

• Cut the sweet potato into large, rough cubes.  Cut the beans/snow peas into 3 cm lengths.  Cut the corn kernels off the cobs.
• Dice the onion and finely chop or crush the ginger and garlic.

• In a large, heavy based pot (that will ultimately hold all the ingredients), fry the onions in 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium heat, until starting to soften.  Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another couple of minutes, until they are just cooked but not very brown.  Remove all from pan and set aside.
• Place the sweet potato in the same pot and just cover with water.  Bring to the boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and simmer until the potato is just beginning to soften. 
• At this point either place the beans/snow peas and corn kernels in the water to boil and cook until desired tenderness is reached, or place a steaming insert on top of the pot and steam the veges with the lid on until desired tenderness is reached.  
• While veges are cooking, mix together the dressing, using  all remaining ingredients.  Shake until incorporated.
• Drain the water from the vegetables, add to the vegetables the onion/garlic/ginger and add the dressing.  Gently stir it all through.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as required. Serve warm.