When you make any changes to your diet, things can often become expensive very quickly!
With a new fad shopping list of ingredients you've never heard of and most definitely haven't used before, the shopping list can often end up becoming another reason for failure.
You simply don't want to waste money.
When I cut sugar out of my life, I wanted to create recipes that reward you, combining delicious flavours while being easy on the pennies too!
Take this soup for example, its warming, hearty, easy to make and it uses the cheapest of ingredients, store cupboard and left overs.
It boasts delicious ham, walnut butter and ricotta topping.
The main ingredient however are Parsnips and left over ham from a ham hock that has stretched to three different meals on my 21 Day Detox Plan.
I made a walnut butter to top off the soup along with extra chunks of ham and a spoon of *ricotta to really dress up the flavours and make this a stand out soup.
*the ricotta is an ingredient in two other recipes on the plan - dessert and breakfast and is optional and could be swapped for grated parmesan
INGREDIENTS
3 Large Parsnips - preferably organic
2 x medium White Onions
4 x cloves of Garlic
30 g of toasted Walnuts
bunch of Parsely
1 litre of Chicken or Veg stock
350 grams of Cooked Ham
knob of Ricotta
knob of Butter
Salt and Pepper
METHOD
Peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic, parsnips and parsley. Heat half the butter in a heavy bottomed pan add the chopped onions and sweat on a low heat for a good five minutes to release the sweet onion flavours.
Then add the parsnip, garlic and parsley and cook for a further 2 minutes before stirring in the stock.
In a separate pan add 2/3 of the walnuts and toast gently for 3/r4 minutes.
Add to the soup pan along with the ham.
Season and cook on a gentle heat for 20-30 mins.
Reduce the heat and blend the soup with a hand held whizzer or processor until it's a smooth consistency.
A few minutes before serving the soup add the remaining butter and crushed up walnuts to a frying pan and gently fry until the butter is melted and turns a golden colour.
Ladle out the soup in to bowls, add chucks of ham top with a spoonful of ricotta and spoon over the walnut butter.
If you would like to quit sugar for good and regain control of your food choices, you can transform your life with my 21 Day Sugar Detox Program.