Beetroot and Kale Soup with a Kale and Almond Crumble – virtuous!
So, are you really, really fed up of healthy eating now? Have you fallen off the wagon? Or, are you still ‘being good?’
If you started a new healthy eating regime at the beginning of the year, you could be 22 days in, which is amazing, if you’ve stuck to the plan.
Happily, I’m still in the ‘being good’ category. Since the start of the new year, and with the support of some of my fellow bloggers following the #JumpStart 2015 plan, I’m ten pounds down and feeling much lighter and brighter.
Here’s the general idea:
- A freshly made smoothie or juice for breakfast and lunch – I have tweaked this to include protein instead at breakfast time, with a whole piece of fruit and a handful of nuts, with the occasional smoothie when time has been tight.
- Drink more water
- No alcohol (this is optional) I’ve managed this bar one tiny glass of wine
- Eat more soups – as per this recipe post – lots of beetroot and healthy kale!
- A normal meal in the evening – I haven’t been eating carbs, gluten, wheat or sugar. I have been including white potatoes and sweet potatoes, plenty of veg and lean protein – meat and fish.
The whole plan is about health and not calorie counting. It is about increasing the quantity of fruit, vegetables and whole food that we eat.
Changing bad habits
Working from home, writing, blogging, cooking and photographing food pretty much every day has meant that some very sloppy habits have begun to settle in. Constant picking, eating leftovers, gobbling up cake. An addiction to decaf syrupy lattes hasn’t helped things either. I’m tired, not simply because I am up throughout the night feeding my baby, but because I am fueling myself with completely the wrong type of food during the day whilst at home. Stay-at-home snacking, I call it. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been trying really hard to change some of my habits.
21 days in and I am feeling dramatically different. I’m still tired because of disrupted sleep patterns, but I am sharper and more focused for most of the day! I have completely stopped snacking on bad stuff. I no longer automatically reach for the biscuit tin. I’ve swapped lattes for herbal or fruit tea. For a sweet kick, I’ve been eating a banana, or a few dates and a handful of nuts. I am drinking plenty more water. I’m eating lots of nutrient-packed soup. I’m not missing wheat or gluten, I am managing extremely well without bread or pasta and will be trying to eat brown rice and brown rice noodles from now on.
So far, so good. The weight is coming off. In the most part, it’s about re-training my body and mind to make more nutritious food choices. It is do-able.
The recipe below, made in my Froothie Optimum 9400 power blender is pretty amazing, too, even if you don’t like kale. The kale blends in and gets mixed up, so there’s hardly any flavour there at all.The natural sweetness of the beetroot provides a comforting kick.
If you don’t like beetroot, simply swap it out for another root vegetable, or try dicing some butternut squash.
The kale and almond crumble is also a very useful thing to make in batches, as it adds an extra boost of nutrients with ground almonds and fresh kale. It also adds texture to your soup, though you can sprinkle the crumble onto poached eggs at breakfast time or over your fish or lean protein for dinner, too.
I’ve also discovered that my seven-month old baby loves beetroot! He can’t get enough of it.
Kale and Almond Crumble made in the Optimum 9400
Join Us!
It’s not too late to join in with Jump Start 2015, we’ll all be carrying on beyond the end of the month and there is now a whole host of recipes for you to try, including soups, smoothies and healthy snacks. Take a look at these posts and look up the hashtag #JumpStart2015 for more inspiration. Share your experiences too in the comments box below!
Other JumpStart 2015 useful links:
- Slim down with Jumpstart January – Tinned Tomatoes
- Jumpstart 2015 – A Diet and Health Plan – Tinned Tomatoes
- Jumpstart 2015 – What I ate and what I lost -Tinned Tomatoes
- Jumpstart 2015 – Juices, Smoothies & Soups – Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
- An Easy 3-Day Juice Feast to Jumpstart 2015 – Smarter Fitter
- Jumpstart January with Smoothies and Soups – Utterly Scrummy Food for Families
- Jumpstart 2015 – Squashing Vegetables and Feeling Healthier – Veggie Desserts
- Happy New Year! A healthy jump start and our pick of food trends for 2015 – Franglais Kitchen
- Jumpstart 2015: I quit sugar too – Maison Cupcake
- Jumpstart 2015 – Eat Smart, Feel Great – Food to Glow
Recipes:
- Orange, Carrot and Goats Cheese Salad with Pumpkin Seeds – Tinned Tomatoes
- Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup – Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
- Vegan Mango Smoothie – Utterly Scrummy Food for Families
- Beet, Cranberry and Ginger Smoothie – Veggie Dessert
- Low Calorie Creamy Leek Soup for #Jumpstart15 – London Unattached
- North African Winter Vegetable Soup with Toasted Freekeh – Food to Glow
- Happy Tummy Tonic – Jumpstart 2015 Healthy Juice Recipe – Food to Glow
- Super Simple Roast Beetroot Soup – My Custard Pie
- Shorabat Addas Red Lentil Soup – Smarter Fitter
- Beetroot Smoothie – Utterly Scrummy Food For Families
- 5 Minute Soup – Utterly Scrummy Food For Families
- Spiced Dumplings with Winter Squash – Franglais Kitchen
- SuperGreen Smoothies – Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Beetroot and Kale Soup | Kale and Almond Crumble
Prep
Cook
Total
A blended, beetroot and kale soup, topped with an optional kale and almond crumble
Ingredients
- 6 medium beetroots, peeled, halved
- 3 carrots, peeled, halved
- 1 red onion, peeled, chopped
- Half a stick of celery
- 500ml/16½fl oz stock (chicken or vegetable)
- A large handful of fresh kale
- For the kale and almond crumble
- 50g whole almonds
- A large handful of fresh kale
Instructions
- Add the beetroot, carrots, onion and celery and stock to a large pan. Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for twenty minutes, or until the beetroot is tender.
- Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add a large handful of fresh kale, cook for five minutes.
- Leave the soup to cool slightly, then carefully transfer to a power blender, or whizz with a stick blender until the soup is very smooth.
- To make the kale and almond crumble, place the whole almonds and kale (make sure it is very dry) into your (clean) power blender or food processor, blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Serve the soup, sprinkled with some of the kale and almond crumble.
Courses Soup
Linked to:
JumpStart2015, Simple and in Season, Extra Veg (Michelle and Helen), Recipe of the Week, Super Soup, Credit Crunch Munch (Helen and Camilla)
How have you been getting on this January?
otilia says
Hm…Looks really nice! Bet its yummy too!
Liz says
Wow – this soup looks chock full of vitamins! Have you tried it cold?
Denise Tyrrell says
Oh I am so behind with my blog reading I think I must have missed this “Jumpstart” lark. I had better get on to it. I really need to be good.
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Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes says
Gorgeous colourful soup! I’m loving the kale crumble idea on top as well. I’ve not been eating overly well the past few weeks so will have to give myself a kick up the bum next month.
Emily Leary says
Truly stunning images, Ren. I’m quite lost for words.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
This is just glorious Ren. I love the idea of the crumble too. Thanks for sending to both Credit Crunch Munch and #ExtraVeg
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
What a wonderful sounding soup Ren and that kale crumble sounds so good. This is such a hard time of year in terms of weather and trying to be good so I have gone for more exercise and just eating healthiest but soups always feature in my weekly diet and this one will be featuring soon!
Monica says
Seriously obsessed with this almond crumble concept. I reckon some seaweed in there would be a nice touch…
Jeanne Horak-Druiff says
Oh I love the sound of that soup! Not doing Jumpstart and not a smoothie person at all, but definitely trying to drink as much water as I can each day and stick to protein and veg/fruit. Together with having an active holiday in S Africa and being back in the gym, I have shifted the 5kg I put on after my accident – yay! But I am still married to my oat porridge in the morning 😉
Sally - My Custard Pie says
I’ve been pretty good – especially with healthy breakfasts, mainly smoothies. Just had a weekend away where they invited me to review the food so have over-eaten a bit. Your pictures are stunning Ren – how you manage to do this while sleep deprived beats me.
Mark Willis says
Re your boy liking beetroot – sometimes babies seem to go for the most unlikely things. Last weekend we were having a family meal and out little granddaughter (13 months) went crazy for Parsley sauce. She ate huge quantities of it – we couldn’t spoon it into her quickly enough!
Your kale dishes will be winners in the USA, where kale is very much the “In thing”. Here in the UK, kale still has a bad press though.
Katie Bryson says
I’m going to hold my hands up and admit i’m drinking a G&T and eating Pringles while I read your beautifully healthy post – whoops! I LOVE the styling in this shot Ren, such amazing greens against the dark wood background. I’m sure I’ll get back into healthy eating eventually, but for now I’m just enjoying reading about your success 🙂
Sarah (@tamingtwins) says
The colours in this post are so beautiful, you’ve really inspired me to try beetroot soup. I love the idea of the crumble too.
Camilla @FabFood4All says
I never cook with beetroot and really should as your soup look super Ren and I love the original crumble topping which I’ve not seen before:-) Thank you for linking to #creditcrunchmunch:-)
Jacqueline Meldrum says
What a gorgeous colour Ren and well done for doing so well. I’ve done not bad, but had a few slips. I’m going to carry on though. Do you know I’ve never had beetroot soup. I don’t know why. Thanks for linking to me.
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.) says
^^^ omg all those typos! {sorry!}
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.) says
Though I am not on the #JUmpstart2015 bandwagon officially, I have been pretty good this month too. Being so ill for much of the month has made eating less much easier, I have to say, but when I am hungry, I reach for fruit, nuts, yoghurts, rather than biscuits. I love your idea of a smoothing in the morning and a regular meal at night. That’s do-able for me (not I just need one of those Froothie things!). And I’ve had the total of 2 small glasses of wine this month since I got back from France. Not on purpose. Just because my body doesn’t want right now. Sometimes just listening to you body is a great thing. We know what we need, right? Meanwhile, your soup and “crumble” look AMAZING!
Sarah Maison Cupcake says
I have never managed to try beetroot soup but feel inspired to try seeing exactly what goes in it. I think the kale and almond crumble is inspired!
Elizabeth says
I’m still being good (it’s Day 45 for me) but oh I so desperately want something besides salad, vegetables and lean protein! Your recipe looks and sounds AMAZING, not like diet food at all! 🙂
Nazima Pathan says
Lovely soup idea – and clever soup topper. Well done to keep to the straight and narrow despite physical tiredness ( when snacking becomes ever so much harder) – and thanks for linking to my posts. Like you I am enjoying having lots more vegetables in the diet to fill up and snack less.