Gut Health + our Mixed Pulse Salad

‘Gut health’ is still the word on everyone’s lips – and with good reason. With Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) in the limelight for being overconsumed, unhealthy and contributing to many health issues it is no wonder that the importance of having a healthy gut is on everyone’s radar.

We are reminded about UK’s top gut expert, Tim Spector’s visit to Cookery School and just how much he loved our Mixed Pulse Salad. It’s a great recipe for boosting prebiotics and is utterly delicious.

 

The key for this salad is that we brown lots of leeks lightly in loads of extra virgin olive oil and use that as the oil to dress the salad alongside lemon juice, cider vinegar and salt and pepper.

We worked with author and food writer, Justine Pattison to create our gut health workshop, Eating Deliciously for a Healthy Gut. Justine worked closely with Professor Tim Spector creating healthy eating recipes and diet plans for her book, The Healthy Gut Handbook, as well as other publications.

Justine has a no-nonsense approach to good gut health and shares the Cookery School’s food philosophy of home-cooked food, no fads.

In our 3 hour workshop, Justine taught the class how to increase our gut biomes and how to eat to achieve optimal gut health. They cooked nutrient dense meals, made from seasonal and local ingredients, and then sat down to enjoy the food together as a group.

We know that one can produce wonderful meals but that are, at the same time, good for your gut so in this class we created an array of dishes that do just that, such as kimchi, Jerusalem artichoke soup with a nut and seed topping, our delicious mixed pulse salad also featuring leeks, garlic and olive oil, dark chocolate pots with a Hasbeans espresso and lots more besides!

Our current Gut Health classes are taught by Nutritional Therapist, Jeannette Hyde.

Find out more and book here.

Here’s the recipe for our favourite gut health salad.

MIXED PULSE SALAD
The idea in this salad is to introduce a range of different colours, flavours and textures. Dried beans and chickpeas (soaked and boiled) or tinned beans can be used for convenience. Lentils are quick and easy to boil and are a great nutrient too.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 leeks
  • 250g green beans, sliced into 5cm pieces
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 250g puy lentils, boiled
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 250g soya beans (frozen is fine)
  • 2 tins of mixed beans
  • 1 bunch spring onions, chopped
  • 1 tin chickpeas
  • good handful of chopped parsley
  • 250g broad beans, popped out of their skin
  • juice of 1 lemon, plus extra if needed
  • freshly ground pepper and salt, to taste

 

METHOD

  1. Wash the leeks well and cut into 1cm/½” rings and rinse again to remove any sand.
  2. Place them in a saucepan with the extra virgin olive oil and cook together until the leeks have softened and are golden brown.
  3. Add the garlic and fry for a minute or two until it is transparent. Set the pan aside to cool.
  4. Drop the green beans into a pan of boiling water until just softened but still crunchy. Drain and set aside.
  5. Boil and drain the soya and broad beans, remembering to pop the broad beans out of their skins so that the beans are bright green rather than grey-ish.
  6. Drain tins of beans and chickpeas. Place the beans, chickpeas, mixed beans and lentils in a large bowl.
  7. Add the parsley and spring onions to the bowl.
  8. Add the cooked leeks and garlic to the bowl too.
  9. Add the lemon juice and seasoning, to taste.
  10. Mix everything together being careful not to break the pulses.

Here are some photos from our last Gut Health class.

Jerusalem artichoke soup with organic red wine

Making kimchi

Our mixed pulse salad in the making

This finished products!

Gut expert, Justine Pattison

Category
Ingredients Recipes