Living the ZOE way with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: Hugh's Winter Gut Health Recipes

Welcome back to River Cottage. It's always great to have the Zoe team here and I'm delighted to be able to whip up another batch of plant-based seasonal

recipes

to help keep you well through the cold month ahead and well beyond. I'm going to prepare a fabulous roasting tray with the season's best vegetables flavored with some beautiful herbs and a little citrus and serve it with delicious creamy hummus and a sprinkle of toasted Ducker. spicy seeds a great way to finish any vegetable dish the colorful pile in front of me is three different roots, three different metals, a couple of allium, some lovely herbs and the secret sauce, citrus, now I haven't counted them yet , but I think it's double figures of plants on the tray and, for a cheeky, gut-friendly PUD, I'll share my cafir with you, served with a spicy mixture of dried fruits and some nuts, and actually show you. will teach you how to make your own coffee using live coffee beans, you won't believe how easy it is and will give you a ready supply for every day of the week.

Now, back to the roasted vegetables, these thick roots will take a bit. longer than coals so I'll start with them starting with a good old carrot. I don't always peel my carrots, but in the

winter

, when I put them away and the skin is a little rough, I do whip them. peel it off with a very fine peeler, twist it, twist it, twist it, twist it and then you get these little sharp pointy edges that are really good for caramelizing in the oven. Same story with pnps. I love the tapered tip of a pnip because it gives you a lot of different textures when you roast them, you get a very chewy, almost burnt tip, and then they get a little more tender as you go up the cut, my final root is actually a one of my favorites, doesn't get enough attention, it's really cheap, it's a new twist, slightly random shapes, it's not just the roots that come in from the beginning.

I'm going to put these onions in because I want them to cook long and slow and be very rich and caramelized, this kind of small medium red. The onions can go in quarters or halves, but I keep them together at the bottom so they don't break up too much while roasting. It's easier to cut them lengthwise, then quarter lengthwise, and then just peel off the papery skin to get On the good side, you can see these little yellow sprouts in the middle of the onion, which reminds us that they actually Spring is not far away and as of right now these onions have the potential to grow back, they are live foods, that's one. of the reasons why they are so full of good

living

things until the moment we cook them, look it's a nice tray of roots and onions that is not too full and there is still a little bit of space around them and that will leave room for brassicas when they go. later and I look at these beautiful colors before we've even added the greens and when I see a tray of beautiful, colorful vegetables like this, I always think that color just means goodness, you know, on some level it tells you that each one of those Vegetables have different things and different nutrients.

I can't tell you what some of my friends at Zoe are probably, why not write to them and see if they know that to me it means a lot of color, a lot of goodness. At this point, just the simplest seasoning for the roots and onions, salt, pepper and a good dash of oil. You can use any cooking oil you have to roast vegetables, but I like to use good quality oils, ideally unrefined, this is British hemp oil. which is really good in Omega-3 and great for grilling and this is a delicious organic olive oil so I'm going to use both now.

I'm going to give it the cheffy mixture just to make sure everything is well coated and it goes into a hot oven at about 19°C. I'm just trimming the Brussels sprouts a little bit, maybe removing one or two of the outer leaves to make sure they're nice and clean, but when you roast them, the outer leaves are going to char slightly anyway, so they are quite tolerant and now that I've turned my attention to brassicas I'm thinking about a nutrient I've been finding out a bit about, it's called sulfuran and it's brilliant for the gut biome. and useful in preventing all types of common diseases and almost all embers Sprouts, cabbages, broccoli are rich in sulfuran The sprouts are now ready, this lovely freshly cut broccoli with purple sprouts hardly needs any preparation or trimming.

I can see it's in excellent Nick and the leaves are delicious. Also, of course, I'm just opening up a whole arch of garlic and all these whole cloves are going to go in. I'm not going to remove the last of the papery skin because they are quite small teeth and will help. protect them from the heat, but when they're roasted I'll be able to squeeze out all that sticky garlic pulp and then the last thing to prepare is this beautiful hippy cabbage and the way to roast it is to keep it in wedges so I'm using the base here to keep the slices together, so I'm going to cut them down from the base to the point, probably half a cabbage will do, look at that, it'll just give everything a nice twist, I can see. some delicious crispy corners and golden edges, it's time to get the embers any time, but first to give it more aroma, some bay leaves and a little rosemary.

Now it's very rare that you add ingredients to a dish that you won't actually eat, but instead eat a Bay leaf isn't much fun, but it will impart its incredibly aromatic essential oils to the vegetables and the same goes for this rosemary, although I don't mind nibbling on some rosemary needles when I eat the roots, so the question I have about bay leaves, since we're not actually going to consume them. Do they count as one plant? The shoots are pretty tough, so I'm going to toss them into somersaults and throw them through the roots. The same goes for purple buds. another little splash of my two oils mixing everything together now if it was colorful before look at it now with the greens coming into action you know you are adding so much goodness at this point also the last of the embers because they are a little more delicate I'm going to place the hipy wedges on top just salt and pepper again, never too much but a little always helps everything tastes great one of each and finally a slightly quirky finish, you may have been wondering what this orange making bright fruit is lurking between the edge.

I'm going to cut it into pieces and spread it on the plate. It's going to create an incredible final flavor, delicious citrus aromas and a hint of sweetness, and that's going to go back into the oven now that I'm. I'm going to make hummus and it will probably be a little different from any hummus you've made before to begin with. I'm doubling all the ingredients to double the amount of plants, so instead of just chickpeas I'm using two different types. of chickpeas legumes and these lovely dark peas called Carlin peas, they're actually peas grown in Britain, but you can use any other legume, you can use chickpeas and kidney beans.

Chickpeas and beans work very well. I'm also doubling up on traditional tahini. adding a little bit of armored butter as well and I'm going to use lemon juice and a little bit of orange juice and not one but two types of oil let's get started it's time to add the Carlin peas of course there's a good reason why people invented electric kitchen appliances. to save the work of this kind of work by just putting these two legumes together in this pasta, you know you're making something really

health

y, so much fiber, so much goodness, beans, peas and other legumes, they really are the ingredients that we don't get. enough and a nice rough hummus like this is a brilliant way to enjoy them and now even more goodness and more flavor than traditional tahini.

I'm putting a couple of generous teaspoons in there, but not too much, it has a really strong flavor and that's it. One of the reasons I turn to nut butter is to add another plant, but this time it's a really

health

y nut. I opted for almond butter, but you can use peanut butter or cashew butter and the sticky spread, tahini, and peanut butter. They are what will bring this hummus together. Legumes like these are, of course, so good for us as they are full of protein and fibre, and it is fiber from as many different plants as possible that really helps to nourish our gut biome and boost our immunity.

They are doing a great job for us and now I'm going to make them really delicious with some additional flavors, starting with just a little bit of garlic. This garlic is raw, so it's much harsher than the mild roasted garlic with the vegetables and me. I only need a little bit and the best way to incorporate it is to grind it with a little coarse salt. I'm just making a little paste of salt and garlic so it distributes really well through the mashed hummus. Raw garlic like this actually breaks down the cell walls and releases one of the great aromatic qualities of garlic, allisin, which is also very good for us and that nice creamy paste will spread quickly throughout the hummus with just a little twist.

You're just very finely grating the outside zest, you don't want to get too busy with that white pith because it can be bitter and that's a delicious load of lemon zest, but I'm not going to stop there with a citrus that I've got. I have an unwaxed orange here. . It is always best to use unwaxed fruit when grating. It was an unwaxed lemon. The thing about this hummus is that I'm going in the direction of making it quite loose because it will almost be pourable like a dip for my roasted vegetables instead of scooping, which is what you might think is the normal texture of hummus. a hummus and of course the juice also goes into both the lemon and the orange which will add some spice and also a good dose of vitamin.

This is going to help us with our

winter

well-being to keep those colds away, so let's start with half a lemon and half an orange. I just need to try those seasonings. Where are we with those citrus fruits? Oh my god, that's really good. Those legumes are great. I'm trying the tahini and almonds and by the way it was a crunchy almond butter so I got even more texture which is brilliant. This will also begin to loosen the hummus. A perfectly acceptable way to make it looser is to simply add. a little water, there is so much flavor here anyway that you are hardly going to dilute it.

What I have here is some safe water from the jar of chickpeas, so it also has good nutrients and is worth preserving. for this little exercise in loosening up the hummus, now that we're getting there, it's wonderfully creamy but also wonderfully textured, just a finishing taste for the seasonings and I'm not going to double dip my tasting spoon, this one's new, oh what beautiful, Citrus is right. Now the nutty crunch of the almond bits is actually quite different from regular hummus and it's great, it will go great with roasted vegetables, but of course I've made quite a bit more than I need to serve with a veggie and I always do That's when I make hummus, it's a great snack.

Zoe has done some really interesting research on snacking that tells us that about 25% of all our energy comes from snacks and 75% of those snacks come from ultra-processed foods, so just by changing the way you snack and consuming things like hummus and healthier snacks that can be truly transformative for your health, a brilliantly useful combination of roasted nut seeds and spices, the most important things come first in this case, it's hazelnuts, now a pinch of hazelnut seeds squash expecting to hear some of those crackles and pops, I have to shake it a little more to make sure there's nothing.

Take time to sprinkle the sunflower seeds and also the spices. Whole coriander seeds. Some fennel seeds and cumin seeds. Now be careful. don't toast it too much, everything crisps up nicely, it's not enough to just take the pan off the heat because it will continue to cook so I have to pour it directly into a container to cool, it's a great sprinkle to finish all kinds of dishes and it's brilliant with my roasted vegetables and with Hummer, now everything gets a good hit little by little so that it doesn't become too explosive when you apply a pinch of salt, a touch of pepper, wonderful toasted aromatic spice notes that come from the hit. the seeds and spices together, another pinch of salt in this one.

I think I'm going to grind them a little more just to really release those flavors, fantastic smells every now and then we get it with a lovely crumbly texture and an incredibly naughty spiciness. flavoring the spices in this Docker smells just fantastic and you know it will be a great finishing touch to the dish. Those little spice seeds full of those amazing aromas often have unique phytonutrients not found in other plants, making them worth getting. in your diet and they are definitely worth counting in your 30 plants a week, you can hear that sizzle and you can see that beautiful caramelization that is just perfect, it's time to serve this lovely combinationof great flavors and health-boosting plants, let's start with a big swirl of our delicious creamy hummus.

I'm going to put it right on the base of the plate. I don't want to overload it. I think I have a good couple of dishes to do here. I want to make sure that everyone has I've got a little bit of that orange to play with a few more touches of hummus here and there, now another layer of crunch and aromatics of this magnificent Ducker, making sure that it hits particularly where the hummus is because that's where it's It will stick its blunt substance. this Ducker you don't need much finally my chive tips are a small sign that spring is coming now you know what I've been playingMaybe I haven't understood this exactly right.

I think we have 12 in the roasting pan, that's not counting the controversial Bay and rosemary. We have seven in the hummus and six in the Ducker. I'm just counting the black. pepper once, by the way, spices count, adding that up is 25 plants, on the way to 30 with just one plate of delicious plant-packed food, this is such a lovely dish, I mean there is so much going on, you know every bite is happening. to be different, every bite will be delicious and every bite will be an abs absolutely packed with plant-based goodness. Oh yes, what a fantastic dish, you just have to go and give it a good try.

We have already packed almost 30 plants. with my creamy, crunchy roasted vegetable hummus and spicy Ducker, but it's hard to resist the idea of ​​a little something sweet at the end of a hearty meal. That little sweet treat doesn't have to be unhealthy, in fact it can be very good for your gut and can rack up a few more plants along the way, so I'll show you something that I sometimes do at the end of a meal and sometimes I have it for breakfast and it's based on this really beautiful dairy product called cfir. This is cultivated.

Milk packed with beneficial live bacteria is a bit like yogurt but it's looser, has even more strains of bacteria and has more tangy flavour, it also has a refreshing tartness which I really like, it's great at the end of a meal. I love to enjoy it with a dried fruit compote soaked for a few days in Kombucha and some nuts soaked overnight before I show you how I make them. I'm going to go over my cafir routine, this is what I do every two or three. days to take out the cafir that is ready to eat and start the next batch.

The last time I picked it was a couple of days ago, so what's here is deliciously fresh cafir ready to be harvested and this is how I do it the first time. What I'm going to do is stir it with a clean wooden spoon. It is traditional not to use metal implements when handling fermented things because there may be a bit of a reaction. You certainly don't want to store anything fermented. In metal you can see that it is beautiful, creamy and a little grainy and those grains are the secret to the eternal life of cir.

Now that I've stirred it just to blend it, you can see some little lumps and bumps coming through the coffee. Those are the clumps of grains, the cafir beans, that actually contain live bacteria that, as long as you keep feeding them, you'll continue to culture the milk and make the cafir and just gently push the rest of the cafir through the SI until all of that. In C, these clusters of sticky grains remain approximately once every 3 harvests. I'll take this C of grains to the sink and rinse them with fresh cold water and that rejuvenates them and makes them hungry for more. milk to feed them uh it's a really good way to keep them really alive and effective.

I'm going to start the next batch by returning these granules to my jar by simply pouring them into a pint of fresh whole milk, that's my preference, you can use semi skim but it goes better with whole milk. I'm pouring all that over the grains in my jar. This rubber seal around my jar. I put it if I move the cafir, but really while it does what it wants. Having it wants to be able to breathe so I'm taking it off and now it stays at room temperature in my kitchen for a couple more days. Three is also good before the next harvest, when it will produce a delicious, thick cafair.

The longer you leave it, the more Tangier it becomes and some people like five-day or old cafir, which is actually quite strong and acidic. I'm kind of a two or three day person, the thing is that you have to keep an eye on it if that's the case. If it has been at room temperature for 24 hours or more, the strength and thickness are sure to vary slightly. You can always dip a clean spoon and taste a little in this jar, which is a dried fruit mix that I've been steeping in my homemade kombucha for 4 days, that's all there is in it, no added sugar, all the sweetness of that liquor comes from the fruits themselves to prepare and eat it with my cafair.

I like to take out a few choice morsels and cut them up, that's all. To make them a little easier to eat, these are some dried apple rings from my own orchard that I made in my dehydrator by simply cutting them into small pieces, a dried unsulphured apricot along with those beautiful dried fruits, some walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds which I have soaked overnight in fresh water, this really plumps them up, as many of you will know, it is sometimes called activating the nuts, it makes them more digestible and actually makes them more delicious, they become tender and creamy instead of sandy and crunchy, you can see it has a nice creamy texture and the rest will go into my bottle of cafair, which is delicious and clean, it will go straight into the refrigerator and by the way, if you're wondering why the word cafir is so emphatically thrown around in This bottle of milk is because certain members of my family have been known to confuse this with milk and put it in their tea and coffee.

They don't like it and it's a waste of very good cafir, so cafir is what it says on the bottle, that's my little routine. This gorgeous cafir is stored in the refrigerator for you to enjoy for the next few days. This will do its thing and will be ready in 2 or 3 days, in the meantime I will enjoy a little treat, the last splash of the juice from my compt here, it will be a great way to finish my feast full of plants and a real pleasure for my gut microbiome and I really hope you try all of these

recipes

at home, just review the information below right before you start.

Getting into this, it's worth saying that if it's not practical for you to make your own cafir at home then of course you can buy really good live cafir in the shops, obviously I would say this but this happens to be one of my favorites Really I hope you try all of these recipes at home and keep an eye out for the next batch of delicious healthy seasonal treats. For me, being healthy isn't about fad diets or working out at the gym, it's about enjoying life by eating good food. being in nature, but it's definitely also about taking care of your gut health