Squashes are a super veg that really comes alive when you roast it.They are often great value and can be used as the main ingredient in this nice, simple and warming squash soup.

You will need:

• 1 butternut squash (800g – 1 kg)
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Small piece of ginger
• 2 or 3 medium carrots
• Spices – use 1 tsp of tumeric, garam masala and cajun seasoning for a decent kick
• 1 tsp of salt and black pepper
• 1.5 lts of vegetable stock

To make this:

Part 1 – The Squash

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Slice the squash in half, coat with a little oil and roast in the oven for 45 minutes.

Part 2 – The Basics of every great soup – onion, garlic, ginger, and spices

1. Chop up the onion, garlic, ginger, and carrots and add them to a hot pan with little water
2. Fry them over a medium heat (about a 7) for about 7 minutes
3. Add the spices to the pan, coating all the veg
4. Add more water if anything starts to stick to the pan

Part 3 – The Finish

1. Remove the roasted squash, scoop out the seeds and discard, then scoop out the body of the squash and add to the pan (it scoops out super easy after roasting)
2. Season with the salt and pepper
3. Add the stock
4. Blend to make a smooth soup – Voilá!

Tip – Use a hand-held immersion blender for less cleanup.

Fermented brainfood for your gut. Simple to make and will keep for ages in a jar in your fridge. Add a dollop of this to your daily dinner or lunch and you will be getting a good dose of healthy bacteria and probiotics that will, over time, help to balance the good and bad bacteria in your gut. In this recipe, we are wild fermenting, which means that we are not using a starter culture for the bacteria. With this method, we do not know exactly what strains of bacteria we are culturing but I think that is just fine by me.

You will need:

1. An organic red cabbage (white or green are good too but red looks way better)
2. 2 tbs of sea salt
3. 2 tbs of honey, ideally raw if you have it
4. A large mixing bowl
5. A large glass jar with a lid

How to make it:

1. Chop and dice up the cabbage into small bits
2. Get a big mixing bowl, add the cabbage, salt, and honey
3. Massage this with your hands for about 10 minutes and then leave it to rest for a few minutes
4. Check out the liquid in the bottom of the mixing bowl now, the salt is starting to draw out the liquid from the cabbage – this is good!
5. Pack in handfuls of the massaged cabbage into the jar, ensure that all the cabbage is submerged under water. Use extra tap water if you need to.
6. Make sure all the cabbage is submerged under the water, put the lid on and add a post-it note stating the date of Day 1.
7. Leave the jar somewhere dark and cool and check and taste it every day for about 4 or 5 days. When you like the taste, you are done.

Add a portion of this to your daily meals and you can forget the probiotics from the pharmacy. Enjoy!