Have you ever tried inviting friends over for brunch or dinner in January? I can tell you from experience: don’t. Just don’t. January is the month where it is the least fun to have friends over family over to enjoy a meal together. Why? Because everyone is doing a challenge – that’s why!

30 days without sugar. 30 days vegan. 30 days of veggies….you name it. I secretly call it „Challenuary“. Your best friend is suddenly vegan, the other friend gluten-free and the third decided to give up glucose and fructose for good. It’s nearly impossible to make a meal that fits everyone’s Challenuary goals. But worry not! I’ve got the answer: it’s this magical Thai-style coconut soup! This soup is magical in so many ways. First of all, its base is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and completely healthy. So most people will like it and will be able to eat it in January. Second, you can adapt the soup according to your specific preferences. You can play around with the veggies, add your choice of protein and get crazy creative! This magic Thai-style coconut soup is anti-discriminative and is your best friend for having friends over in Challenuary. I don’t think we need to discuss that it’s also incredibly delicious. That’s a given.

Now, what do you need to make this soup? Nothing much. Just some homemade or store-bought red Thai curry paste, coconut milk, ginger, tamari and vegetable stock paste. The rest is totally up to you. If you’re not living completely vegan then you might even add salmon, shrimps or whatever else you love to the soup. I prefer shiitake mushrooms as my protein-source, because they just add a lovely texture to this comforting dish.

So if you’re crazy enough to invite friends or family over in the next few weeks, I urge you to give this soup a try. You can also use it as a clean-the-fridge-soup by using up all the leftover veggies on your counter. And you will make your own life and the life of your guests so much happier! Trust me.

Don’t get me wrong. I think that changing your diet is amazing. But I also think that it’s better to focus on long time goals than going healthy for 30 days and then back to old habits because the diet phase is over. What’s your take on challenges?

Enjoy!

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And just like that, winter is back in Germany. Due to the cold temperatures that seem to be everyone’s main topic of conversation these days, I thought I’d warm you all up with a hot persian-inspired lentil soup. And just so you know, you ARE allowed to eat this soup cuddled up under a blanket on the sofa. In winter, there is nothing better than enjoying food on the sofa, am I right?Somehow, I just can’t seem to get into this new year. This is partly due to my cold that I could not seem to shake off until yesterday. My instagram feed is full of active people, getting into that January challenges mood, working out, cooking healthy and writing gratitude journals. Except for me. Nah, this isn’t me. My mind is somehow still in 2017 and my body, don’t even get me started on my body. Way behing, guys, waaaay behind.

That’s why I thought I’d use January to work on my mindset. From now on, I just want to take a moment each day to appreciate the Now and not focus on the future. Today was such a beautiful day, and I just stood at the window looking at the frost-covered roofs of the buildings around us. It was such a calm and beautiful moment. 2018 is going to be a great year. I can feel it. I’m just not quite there yet, and that’s ok.

So this lentil and kale soup is one of those feel-good recipes that you need right now. It can be wipped up in under an hour, and you can freeze it, store it and even take it to work with you. It doesn’t require a lot of fancy spices (well, except sumach), but if you don’t have it, don’t worry, it’ll still be delicious.

I love lentils in the winter, because they are extraordinarily rich in amino acids and fiber, which refill our protein storages and keep us full longer. The fresh veggies and kale add to your 5-a-day and a filled with vital nutrients. This soup fills you up on everything you need this winter, and it will definitely help you get into that New Year spirit.

Enjoy and take care,

Lynn

Enjoy!

The post Persian-Inspired Lentil and Kale Soup appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

Wow, thank you so much for your overwhelming support on my latest blogpost. I never thought that writing down my exact feelings would have such a huge impact on others as well. It seems like we’re all in this together, aren’t we? So as I was reading all of your comments, I suddenly had the urge to cook something healthy and delicious. I went to the farmer’s market and got the most amazing-smelling tomatoes, packed a bunch of beetroots and some fresh rosemary and went into the kitchen.I had so much enery, so much love in me that this soup turned out especially great. All of you, with your comments here on the blog, on Instagram, personal emails and even phone calls from friends showed me that being honest can be so relieving. It also happened that I gave a workshop at a school that day. The kids had organized a day under the motto: crises and life. There were many workshops with topics such as healthy eating and yoga (moi), depression, stress management, mobbing and relaxation. It was such an inspiring day, and I wish that we would have had a day like that back when I was in school. I also really loved talking to these kids about healthy eating and many of them had really never given it much thought before. So we talked about what healthy eating means and why it is so helpful in stressful times such as their upcoming final exams in the Spring.

I really hope that I will have the chance to talk to more students about healthy eating in the future. It’s such an important task, because not all of them learn how to cook or eat fresh food at home. Perhaps there will be another workshop opportunity in the future – who knows.

Now back to this soup. Since it was the first real meal that I had cooked in a week, I cherished every bite of it. It’s super easy yet very fragrant and delicious. All you need to do is roast the veggies and then puree them with vegetable broth. That’s it. It could not be any easier. You also won’t need much more salt to season it as the roasted vegetables and herbs are so flavorful!

Oh and also, the soup is pink. Oh yes, you’re welcome. Everyone needs a little bit of pink in their lives, don’t you think? It really reminds me of the Indian summer colors that we will be seing everywhere soon. Oh dear, fall is my absolute favorite season, and I cannot wait for the cozy and cold weather. This soup will get you through the first weeks of fall, it will strengthen your body and it will make you feel your best. Just what you need this season.

Enjoy!

Merken

Merken

Merken

Merken

The post Roasted tomato soup with beetroot and rosemary appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

I am sorry for the long silence here, but I was on vacation and then got knocked down by a cold or flu, so I did not really feel like being creative in the kitchen. However, I do like a strong vegetable broth like this delicious vegetarian pho. I have already mentioned that I was introduced to the vietnamese kitchen by a former co-worker, who was vietnamese. It was him who told me that it’s not pronounced “pho” but “pha”. Something nobody seems to believe when I tell them – but I won’t stop calling it pha.

My co-worker was also a great cook, and told me about the vietnamese cuisine, and its signature spices. The secret to a good pho are all the spices such as star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, coriander and ginger. They need to be roasted before setting up the broth, so they really become fragrant.

Besides from all the spices that make the broth so delicious, there is also warming red onions and garlic involved, to make it taste more like a broth. Even though the original pho is usually a beef broth, I believe that this vegetarian version is even more delicious as the spices, onions and garlic add a unique and strong flavor.

You may add whatever vegetables you have in stock, but I especially recommend using shiitake mushrooms and bok choy as they are not only rich in minerals, they also taste amazing in combination with the broth. If you can, try to find brown rice noodles as they are more nutritious than white rice noodles. However, they are hard to find where I live, so I use white rice noodles anyways.

Nobody’s perfect. Am I right?

I really hope that you’ll like this soup just as much as I do. Let me know what your favorite Asian cuisine is, I’d love to add more Asian recipes to the blog.

Enjoy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post Vegetarian Pho appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

Green Kale Vegetable Soup for all those healthy January people out there!

Hi there January New Year’s resolution people. It’s mid-January and I feel really good for some reason. Normally, January has got me like….uhhhh….but this year, I feel strong, confident and definitely confident. This might be partially due to all the healthy food that I consumed since Christmas, and partially due to the lovely people that I am sourrounded by. It’s the first year of having my best friend living really close to me, like 30 minutes close, which is a new record-breaking closeness for us. And I am focusing more on date nights with my boyfriend, which is another great feature of this January.

I have been doing lots of yoga, too, attended a couple of sweat-wrenching HIIT classes and I’ve been fairly productive for my Master’s studies.

Do you hate me already?

Please don’t! I am really just trying to encourage you that you can work on more positive goals in your life as well. Maybe you are balancing a full-time job, kids and a husband all at the same time? Maybe you are a single-dad trying to raise a teenage girl all by yourself? Maybe you have just started or finished university, and you feel completely lost right now?

Whatever place you are in right now, it is definitely possible to move closer to your goals this year, even if it is just a tiny little bit. We all have baggage to carry, but it is so important to look after ourselves, and to pay attention to what we want and what we need.

This soup is a gift to treat your body well, to take some time off, and to get back on track this year. There are so many awesome veggies that your body needs right now to fight the cold and the wet weather, and to nourish itself from the inside.

Be kind to yourself and do take some time to relax from time to time!

This recipe was created for my monthly column on “Ohhh….Mhhh”. If you like German, you can check out my column on Steffi’s blog.

Enjoy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post Green Kale Vegetable Soup appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

This thai coconut soup, tom kha veggie as I like to call it, adapted from the original tom kha gai, has been my favorite coconut soup this fall. It’s the perfect mix of a warming coconut broth, fresh spices such as lemon grass and lime leaves, as well as veggies and fresh herbs. It’s easy to prep, and I’ve tried to reduce the foreign ingredients to a minimum that you will get at every Asian store around the world, and even in most well-stocked supermarkets. 

So, before I get into this soup, I need to apologize for the down time of my blog on Monday. Suddenly everything stopped working and I could not seem to get it back up again. I’m telling you, this is every blogger’s worst nightmare. Of course I could not fix it myself, but had to ask my host and more so my uncle for help, but after 20 hours of constant sweat and some tears, we finally managed to get this baby running again.

Did I already tell you how much I love fall and all its amazing warming soups, like this thai coconut soup? Since last winter  my 20-minute thai curry soup, was my constant companion, I needed to change it up a bit.  As I order tom kha veggie every time I’m going out for Thai food, I thought I’d give it a try as well. I was always intimitated by the long ingredient list in tom kha soups, but then I saw this Thai Style Coconut Soup by my dear friend Marie from 8thandlake. She made it seem so easy, so I really wanted to make my own version without having to add many more ingredients.

I found that adding the lime leaves really makes the biggest difference, so I could not recommend buying this ingredient enough. I got it from a small asian store in my home town. They sell it in bulk for just over a Euro, so it’s not like you’re gonna have to break the bank when making this soup. They last for quite a while, too, so one bag should get you through this winter at least. Lemongrass is also very important for the taste, so you should definitely not skip on the lemongrass as well.

Besides from lime leaves, lemon grass and coconut milk, you can pretty much add anything you like into your soup. Making your own tom kha is definitely cheaper than constantly buying it from your trusted Thai restaurant, obviously. You will also know exactly what’s inside, so no funny additives that could harm your body.

The flavors in this soup actually become stronger when you make it the day before you want to eat it, but I can never wait that long and finish it right away.

Today’s post is pretty short in the description, because I am still trying to fix some minor bugs, and sort all the blog related things out. I nevertheless wanted to post my usual Wednesday recipe, so here it is: the best thai coconut soup you’ll ever try.

Enjoy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post Thai Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Veggie) appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

This is my first healthy pumpkin soup recipe on the blog. I never thought I’d ever put a pumpkin soup recipe on the blog, because I thought that pumpkin soup is the one recipe that everyone can master, and nobody needs a food blog to tell them how to make it. I feel like everyone who likes to cook has a favorite pumpkin soup recipe, so why change a winning team, right? Well, turns out, I got quite a few requests from readers to post my personal favorite recipe on the blog. So here it is. Since pumpkin soup is special to many people, myself included, this recipe is a deep inside into soul – haha maybe not that deep, but you know, like maybe 15 feet down. Anyhow, this recipe has been my favorite ever since I started cooking, and it’s also one of the first soups I ever cooked. The special ingredient that I added this year is crispy kale chips, which add the final crunch, and make this my favorite pumpkin soup ever.

I cooked this healthy pumpkin soup in my favorite kitchen gadget, my Vitamix 750*. It’s amazing what this thing can do, and how much you can actually love a kitchen gadget. However, there is one key step that I still use my good old pot for: sautéing the onion, vegetables and spices. I feel like this is a crucial step for getting the perfect flavor in any soup. The good news is that you do not need a fancy kitchen gadget to make an incredible tasting soup (but a fancy gadget never hurts, right?!). So whether you are a proud owner of a Vitamix or prefer the old fashioned way of cooking, this recipe is a winner for everyone.

So, what makes this healthy pumpkin soup my favorite? Well, for starters it has pumpkin in it, so it’s gotta be good. Then we have carrots, apples, ginger, coconut milk and limes, which already sounds pretty neat, right? I also love the taste of turmeric and cumin in it, as well as a hint of orange juice. I guess it’s the mix of all of these ingredients that make it taste so delicious.

Health-wise, this soup is bursting with nutrients. The color already indicates that it is loaded with beta carotin, a pre-stage of vitamin A, which is vital for a healthy vision. The other superfood in this soup is kale, which is one of the best anti-inflammatory vegetables you can find. The anti-inflammatory properties can mainly be traced back to the vast amount of omega-3 fatty acids present in this leafy green. One serving of kale covers roughly 30% of our daily recommended omega-3 doses, which is amazing, given that most people do not get enough omega-3 in their daily diet.

I hope you’ll find a new way to enjoy pumpkin soup, and please, I’d love to hear about your favorite ingredients in pumpkin soup.

Enjoy!

*My Vitamix Professional 750 was kindly given to me by Vitamix. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make hour-long recipe testings in the Heavenlynn Healthy kitchen possible.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post My favorite healthy pumpkin soup with kale chips appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

This roasted red pepper and cannellini soup is roasted one of my favorite comfort foods. It’s hands down one of those soups that I could eat every day, and that I always have the ingredients for stocked at home.  There’s something about the taste of roasted red peppers that reminds me of vacation and happiness. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of raw red peppers. I mean, I’d eat them and I don’t mind them, but they are not my favorite vegetable to nibble on. When roasted, they turn into one of my favorite things, though. When turned into a soup they almost imitate the taste of a good old tomato soup – with a much better and more intense flavor. The cannellini beans add a natural creaminess to the soup, as well as a good amount of plant protein. The whole soup is just a delicious and creamy combination of flavors and textures, that I am sure you’ll love as much as I do. Of course this soup isn’t just super delicious, it’s also extremely good for your health. Peppers are one of the best sources of vitamin C, in fact, one raw pepper contains more than 200% of the daily recommended intake. That’s more than twice as much as oranges contain.
Like all beans, cannellini beans are a great source of dietary fiber, which provides us with long lasting energy. They are also an amazing source of antioxidants, which help protect our body form free radicals that could damage our cells and lead to chronic diseases like cancer.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4:
– 6 red peppers (mine weighed 450g)
– 1 medium sized onion
– 2 cups (500ml) water
– 1 tablespoon of homemade veggie stock
– 2 cups (300g) cannellini beans
– 2 large handful of basil
– fresh or dried herbs like thyme, rosemary or oregano
– 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
– 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
– 2 teaspoons of paprika powder
– 1 teaspoon of curry powder
– 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
– 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
– 2 tablebspoon (30ml) of olive oil
– salt & pepper to taste

METHOD:

1. Start by pre-heating the oven to 200°C (400°F). Cut the peppers and remove the seeds.
2. Place the peppers on a baking tray that you aligned with baking paper. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil on top of the peppers, and sprinkle it with some fresh or dried herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano. Roast the peppers for about 15 minutes.
3. Once their skin becomes wrinkly, take them out of the oven, set aside to cool.
4. Chop the onion. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion for about one or two minutes on high heat.
5. Add all the remaining ingredients and purée them in a food processor or heat-proof blender.

Serve with some gluten free or rye bread.

Enjoy!

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