This is a cracker of a dish and a great addition to your fish repertoire. It is totally delicious, totally healthy, nightshade-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and low carb and uses standard supermarket cod. After eating this you will feel nourished, vibrant and totally saintly.
It is, I suppose, a healthy deconstructed fish, chips and mushy peas. Great for a spring or summer dinner party, surprisingly quick to put together and visually sensational.
This is also a great way of using summer vegetables, especially bags of fresh peas in a pod where a 500 g bag won't go far (producing around 200 g fresh peas). But this is equally good in the winter using frozen organic spinach and peas meaning this can be a quick, convenient meal that will take around 30 minutes to prepare.
I cook the onions and garlic slowly over a very low heat for 15 minutes, then I add peas and cook quickly for round three minutes before adding the spinach leaves, stirring them in until wilted before blitzing in the food processor with the fresh mint leaves. This is done to keep everything fresh and beautifully green and vibrant, conserving the flavour of the mint and all the vitamins and enzymes. Do not boil this soup once made, otherwise it will start to oxidise and lose its gorgeous colour.
I’ve occasionally used gorgeous pink sweet potato for this recipe which is so striking against the green of the soup, but standard orange sweet potato is just as beautiful.
Almond cream is a terrific product. Unlike oat cream, it is white, with the similar consistency and finesse of dairy cream. But unlike dairy cream, it can be left in your stock cupboard until required. In the past I have used oat cream with this dish, so if you can’t get Eco-Mil almond cream, oat cream is a good substitute.
Amazon stock Eco-Mil almond cream in packs of 6 x 200 ml cartons, and if you are a member of Amazon Prime delivery is free.
For the vegetable stock I use Marigold Swiss Organic Vegetable Bouillon powder and filtered water, but there are loads of organic vegetable bouillon powders on the market.
Waitrose do organic frozen peas and organic frozen spinach. You can get away using non-organic peas, but spinach is No 2 on the Dirty Dozen list of vegetables with a high pesticide residue. Always use organic spinach and wash well.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ecomil-Cuisine-Almond-Cream-200ml/dp/B01EHSZEO2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1537883007&sr=8-1&keywords=almond+cream
RECIPE
Serves 4
For the soup
1 medium organic onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
large pinch pink Himalayan salt
1 tsp coconut oil
handful of mint leaves
200g packet of organic young spinach (or 200 g organic frozen spinach)
200 - 220g fresh or frozen 'petit' peas
500 ml organic vegetable stock
200ml carton of Eco-Mil almond cream
** 1 cup of Healing Intent
For the cod:
4 x same size pieces of cod loin
rice flour
pink Himalayan salt
coconut oil
For the sweet potato noodles
2 large spiralised sweet potato
coconut oil to deep fry
To finish:
Black sesame
Mint sprigs
1. Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in the pan and sweat the garlic and onion with a little salt. Cover with a disk of greaseproof paper and turn the heat low to cook until soft but not browned.
2. When the onion is cooked, remove the paper and discard. Add the stock and fresh peas and cook for 3 - 5 minutes until just cooked. Add the spinach leaves and stir until just wilted. Try to keep the heat low or the soup will lose its green vibrancy.
3. Place soup into a high-speed blender, add the mint leaves and blend until totally smooth. Add the almond cream and blend to incorporate. Decant, and place in a clean, cool saucepan and allow to cool. If the soup is a little thick add extra filtered water until you get the desired consistency and adjust the seasoning.
4. Salt the cod loins and leave for five minutes or so, blot dry and toss in rice flour.
4. Heat a little coconut oil in frying pan and fry the cod loins for three minutes on each side until golden brown.
5. While the cod is cooking, heat a good amount of coconut oil and fry the spiralised sweet potato until golden. Drain well on paper towel and sprinkle with a little Himalayan pink salt.
To serve:
6. Heat the soup, but do not boil and check for seasoning. Place two ladles of soup in a wide rim bowl, add a piece of cod and top with a portion of the fried sweet potato noodles. Finish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a sprig of mint.
Enjoy
** Healing Intent: when cooking foods to heal the body it is important to set your intent. The best way to do this is imagine that you are cooking this dish for yourself or for someone you love who is very ill and that this dish is the only thing that will help in their healing. You will find that the way you handle the food will change, and will not only result in a better dish, but you will feel the food actually nourishing your body and spirit.