Gluten free - dairy free - grain free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free - can be vegetarian
    Apologies to those of you living in climates that are now enjoying the delights of warm weather, but in my part of the world, the cold, rainy, definitely wintry weather is just begging to be thwarted by a nice, big, comforting bowl of hot soup!
    This is one of my favourites. It's from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food, and I have only made a couple of small changes to it. The hero ingredient is the chorizo. It offers such a depth of flavour that veges alone won't. But I've also made it without the chorizo and it's still a great soup. I try to buy organic, sulfite free cured meats when possible, but chorizo can be a little hard to come by. If you want extra flavour but don't want to use chorizo, try some organic, sulfite-free bacon. Or, just go vegetarian...you won't be sorry! I also use my own chicken stock whenever possible, because of all it's wonderful immune-boosting properties.
     Everything gets roughly chopped before being thrown into a pot of stock, boiled, and eventually blended till smooth. So easy! It should serve 8 people as a main, with some bread on the side if you like.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil (Jamie uses olive, I use coconut)
  
• 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 small sticks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• As much garlic as you like (Jamie says 2 cloves, I use a whole bulb! ), peeled and roughly sliced
• 800g orange sweet potato, peeled and roughly diced
• 1 chorizo sausage, roughly chopped (or a few rinds of bacon)
  
• small bunch of fresh parsley (I've also made it with coriander)
  
• 1 heaped teaspoon of curry powder (I use madras curry powder)
• 2 litres/ 8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (or 2 stock cubes and 8 cups of water)
• freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
• 1 fresh red chili, for serving (optional)
  

Method:

• Put a large pot over high heat and add the oil
• Add the onion and cook, stirring, til slightly softened.
• Place all other chopped ingredients, and the curry powder, in the pot, mix together well, and cook for about 5 minutes with the lid askew.
• Add the stock, or water and stock cubes (if using cubes, dissolve them in some boiling water first).
  
• Give a good stir and bring to the boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potato and carrot are very tender (about 10 minutes)
• Blend the soup until smooth, either with a hand held blender or pour into a food processor. Taste and add salt and pepper as required.
• Serve in bowls, topped with finely chopped red chili if desired
  

Note : to maintain the wonderful nutritious, immune-boosting properties of the garlic, add it in to the pot only in the last minute of cooking.

Gluten free - dairy free - sugar free - nut free - vegetarian - contains egg
    This is a perfect cold day comforting dinner.  It's pretty easy and can be vegetarian if you prefer.  You throw it all together and into the oven an hour and a half before you want to eat.  Then the oven goes to work cooking and warming up the house at the same time! It's great for afternoons when you're taking the kids to soccer training, piano lessons, or whatever it is your family does. Pop it in the oven before you leave and it's ready when you get home!
     The other great thing about the way I've adapted this recipe is that you can make it for how ever many people you are serving. The quantities are in 'per person amounts, so it can be as big or small as you like. And don't forget to add a couple of extra portions for your lunch tomorrow- yum!! This is also really good with some chopped up organic (nitrite free) bacon or chorizo when we don't want to go vegetarian. You can use different veges if you have others you prefer/can tolerate. The original inspiration for this recipe came from the Food Intolerance Network and for the 'Failsafe' diet, it recommended using shallot, choko, celery, cabbage and zucchini.

Ingredients per person:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour mix
• 1 medium to large potato, sliced into rounds about 1/2 cm thick
• 1/2 large zucchini, grated
• 1/4 red capsicum, diced
• Large handful of 'greens'- for example, spinach, bok choy, basil, oregano, parsley, chives- finely chopped
• Small spring onion, finely chopped
• 2 gloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• a few grinds of salt and pepper
• Plus 1/4 cup oil per FOUR SERVES (I use olive or coconut oil)
  
• Optional: 2 slices of bacon or 1/4 chorizo sausage per person, diced
  
• Optional: gluten free bread crumbs and grated cheese of choice (dairy or non) to cover the top

Method:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, self raising flour, oil and salt and pepper to make a smooth batter.
• Stir in all the vegetables, herbs and garlic (and bacon or chorizo if using) until well coated.
• transfer into a square or rectangular baking dish (glass or ceramic work best. If using metal, line with baking paper).
• Push it all in until it's tightly packed and fairly flat on top.
• If desired, sprinkle with some breadcrumbs and over with grated cheese. Or just cover with cheese. Or leave it off- it's still nice without it!
• Place in middle of pre-heated oven and cook for 90 minutes, until cheese is nicely browned and potatoes are soft.
• Serve on its own or with a side salad.

Gluten free - grain free - dairy free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free
    This is a popular Chinese dish that's really fun to eat because you get to eat with your fingers! I started making this using Kylie Kwong's recipe from her book 'Simple Chinese Cooking', but I tend to vary it a bit every time I make it. An internet search reveals that there seems to be a consensus on the essentials of a Sung Choi Bao: sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine, ginger, garlic, bean sprouts and spring onions. It seems to be traditional to use pork mince meat, but if you don't want to use pork, it's also really good with chicken mince, and my guess is that turkey mince would work well too.
    Not all recipes add other vegetables to the mix, but when they do, carrot, celery, shiitake mushrooms and red onion seem to be the standard. As with most recipes, I tend to use what my family likes the most and what I have on hand. We generally don't like celery in our stir fries and I often don't have shiitake mushrooms on hand. Sometimes I add finely chopped red capsicum, snow peas and I love adding purple cabbage too. All those colours make it look really spectacular.  Follow this recipe as a guide and make it your own!
     The other significant variation we often do with ours is add vermicelli noodles (made with mung beans), and turn it into a stir-fry eaten out of a bowl, rather than eating it out of lettuce leaves. 

This amount should feed 4 adults, and 4-6 people if kids are involved.
Ingredients

• 500g pork mince (preferably free-range or organic), or chicken or turkey mince
• 2 small iceberg lettuce leaves per person OR  200g vermicelli noodles
• 2 tablespoons oil (I use coconut oil, many recipes call for peanut oil)
• 2 tablespoons julienne fresh ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 red onion, cut in half and finely sliced
• 4 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine/ shaoxing wine or dry sherry
  
• 2 tablespoons tamari (wheat free soy)
• 2 teaspoons coconut or rapadura sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons gluten free oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Optional vegetables:

• 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps finely sliced
• 1 celery stick, finely sliced
• 2 small carrots, finely julienne
• 1 small red capsicum, finely sliced
• handful of snow peas, finely sliced
• 1/4 purple cabbage, finely sliced

• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced

To finish:

• extra spring onion
• a couple of hand fulls of coriander, roughly chopped

Method

• If using lettuce, soak the individual leaves in the sink or a large bowl, covered with cold water, for at least an hour. Dry before serving.
• If using vermicelli, soak or cook according to packet instructions and set aside
• Heat the oil in a hot wok, then add the garlic, ginger and pork mince. Cook, stirring for a minute
• Add the onions and mushrooms and cook for 30 seconds
• Add the wine or sherry, tamari, sugar, oyster sauce, and sesame oil, and cook until the pork is cooked through
• Add all vegetables and toss for just a minute, so they remain quite crunchy
• If using vermicelli, add the cooked noodles to the pan and toss to mix in
• Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the excess liquid behind, and transfer to a large serving bowl. Garnish with extra spring onion and coriander
• If using the lettuce leaves, spoon filling into a lettuce leaf, fold over to enclose, pick it up and enjoy!