Ingredients:

1 cup of red lentils, rinsed and drained
2 onions, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, peeled and finely sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried oregano
7 cups vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper

Instructions:

Place all ingredients except the salt and pepper into a large soup pan. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for approximately 1 hour. Stir occasionally to prevent lentils from sticking to pan. If soup thickens and lentils are still not tender, add a little extra vegetable stock.

Remove the bay leaves and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup into warm bowls and serve with a whole wheat or seed roll.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil (you can substitute low-calorie spray for the olive oil)
3 leeks washed and sliced
1 lb carrots, washed, peeled and sliced
5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
Juice of two oranges
Finely grated rind of two oranges
2/3 cup of plain yogurt
Salt and black pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro to garnish

Place the olive oil in a pan and add the leeks and carrots, stir well until coated with oil. You can also use low calorie spray if you prefer. Cover and cook over low heat for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften (don't let them discolor). Pour the chicken or vegetable stock, orange juice and orange rind over the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cover. Simmer for approximately 40 minute or until the vegetables are tender. Let the soup cool a little then transfer to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Return soup to pan and add 2 tablespoons of the yogurt. Reheat gently taking care not to let soup boil.

Serve the soup in warm bowls and place a swirl of yogurt and garnish of cilantro leaves on the center of each bowl.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
7 ½ cups of vegetable stock
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 medium sweet potato diced
1 lb corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
Salt and ground black pepper
Lime wedges to serve

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a large soup pan and gently fry the onion until soft (approximately 5 minutes). Add the garlic and gently fry for another 2 minutes. Add 1/14 cups of vegetable stock to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cumin and diced sweet potato and simmer a further 10 minutes. Season to taste and add the corn and remaining stock. Simmer approximately 10 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and let cool slightly. Transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Stir the smooth soup into the pan and mix together with the chunky remaining soup and gently stir together.

Serve into warm bowls with lime wedges on the side.

This is a light soup with a Thai influence and is made with fresh homemade chicken stock. You can use pre-made chicken broth and leftover chicken to save time.

Note: If you can't find lemongrass in the specialty section of your supermarket or specialty store, you can omit.

Ingredients for Stock:

2 chicken thighs and legs or 2 larger chicken breasts
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 oz of fresh grated ginger or ½ teaspoon dried ginger
2 lemon grass stalks
2 dried red chillies

Ingredients for Soup:

2 lemon grass stalks
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
½ cup short grain rice rinsed
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Fresh chopped cilantro (about a handful)
1 finely chopped and deseeded red chilli to garnish
1 lime quartered to serve

Instructions:

Put the chicken into a large deep pan and add all the other stock ingredients. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer gently with the lid on for approximately 2 hours, until the chicken is tender and you have a rich stock.

Skim off any excess fat from the top of the stock, strain stock into a large bowl or pan and set aside. Remove the skin from the chicken and shred the meat into a separate bowl, set aside.

Flatten the lemon grass stalks using a rolling pin or the edge of a knife. Pour the stock back into a soup pan and add the lemon grass stalks, fish sauce and rice. Simmer uncovered over low heat for approximately 40 minutes. Add the shredded chicken after 30 minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Slice and deseed the chilli. Chop into thin pieces. Be careful when handling chilli and quickly wash your hands after as it can really sting. Serve the soup into warm bowls and garnish with a little chopped fresh chilli and lime wedge.

Ingredients:

1 whole small chicken or several chicken thighs and legs
2 lb leeks
1 fresh bay leaf
1 large carrot, peeled and thickly sliced
10 cups of chicken broth
½ cup pearl barley
Salt and black pepper
Fresh chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions:

Place chicken in a large deep pan, slice half of the leeks and place them in pan. Add the bay leaf, a little chopped parsley, carrot and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer gently for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Skim off any excess fat at the top of the pan occasionally during simmering.

Leave until slightly cooled and strain soup into another large pan. Discard all the chicken skin, bones, and vegetables. Shred all the chicken meat and add to clear stock. Set aside.

Rinse the pearl barley and cook in a separate pan of boiling water for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and rinse again. Add the pearl barley to stock and chicken and cook over low heat for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until barley is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in warm bowls and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

You can make this soup without roasting the peppers to save time but the roasting process gives the soup a rich, excellent flavor, worth the time.

Ingredients:

3 red bell peppers, washed and deseeded
1 yellow bell pepper
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 cups of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon plain all-purpose flour
Salt and black pepper to taste
Diced red and yellow bell pepper pieces to garnish
Plain yogurt or crème fraiche to garnish

Preheat the grill. Wash and cut the peppers in half and remove stalks, core and seeds. Arrange the peppers in a non stick baking tray (skin side up) and place under the hot grill. Grill for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until skins begin to char.

Transfer the peppers to a plastic or zip lock bag, seal and leave to cool. Once cool (about 15 minutes) peel skins and discard. Roughly chop the remaining pepper flesh and set aside.

Place the onion, crushed garlic and 2/3 of the vegetable stock in a pan. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until stock begins to reduce. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and stir to reduce lumping. Add the chopped peppers and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Let soup cool slightly and the transfer to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Transfer soup back to pan and reheat gently, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in warm bowls and sprinkle a few chopped peppers and a little yogurt in the center of each bowl if desired.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thick rounds
1 large parsnip, peeled and cubed
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
4 thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoons dried thyme
3 rosemary sprigs or 2/3 teaspoons dried rosemary
5 cups vegetable stock
Salt and ground black pepper
Crème fraiche or sour cream to serve

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375F. Pour the olive oil into a large bowl and add the vegetables, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss well until coated in oil. Place the vegetables on a non stick tray in a single layer. Roast the vegetables in preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes or until tender. Turn them occasionally to ensure they brown evenly.

Remove from oven, discard herbs and transfer vegetables to a large pan. Pour the stock over the vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Remove soup from heat and leave to slightly cool. Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Return soup to pan and gently heat through. Serve into warm bowls and garnish with a swirl of sour cream or crème fraiche.

Note: You should be able to find most of these ingredients in a health food shop or specialty section in your supermarket. You can substitute the bok choy with any Asian greens. Dashi is available in powdered form in many health food stores or Asian stores. If you don't have Dashi you can use vegetable stock in its place.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of spring onions (scallions)
A large handful of chopped fresh cilantro
3 thin slices of fresh root ginger (or ½ teaspoon dried ginger)
1 small red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced (optional)
5 cups of dashi or vegetable stock.
1 cup of bok choy (also known as pak choi), thinly sliced
1 cup firm tofu cut into small cubes
4 tablespoons red miso
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce (also known as shoyu)

Instructions:

Cut the green tops off the spring onions and thinly slice the rest. Place the coarse green tops in a large pan along with the cilantro stalks, ginger, dried chilli and dashi or vegetable stock. Heat the mixture gently until it comes to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve and return clear broth to pan. Reheat until simmering.

Add the green portions of the sliced spring onions, with the chopped pak choi and tofu. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes. In a separate bowl mix 3 tablespoons of miso with a little hot broth in a bowl and stir into the soup. Add additional miso and soy sauce to taste.

Stir the coarsely chopped cilantro leaves into pan and along with the white part of the spring onions. Cook gently for 1 minute and serve into warm bowls. Sprinkle with thinly sliced chilli if using.

You've probably heard a lot about antioxidants lately: in the newspaper, in magazines, and on T.V. While many supplements and nutrients have been talked about for as long as you can probably remember, antioxidants are a more recent topic. Don't let this fool you into thinking they're any less important. Antioxidants are a vital part of staying young and healthy. But why are they so important?

First of all, we need to know what an antioxidant is. During normal processes, molecules called free radicals are produced in the body. These are basically unstable atoms or molecules that desperately want to become stable. They do this by stealing electrons from healthy cells, making them unstable and less healthy. Antioxidants reverse this reaction, helping to keep the cells of our body healthy and functioning properly.

One of the most talked about effects of antioxidants is their anti aging properties. As we age, we constantly copy our cells to replace them when they die. Errors in copying occur and build up to form the aging process. Free radicals can also interfere and have been shown to promote wrinkles, memory problems, weakness of the immune system, and reduced elasticity of tissue; all of which are associated with the aging process. We can't completely stop aging, but proper amounts of antioxidants can slow the process considerably.

Damage caused by these free radicals is also considered to be a cause of certain cancers. Getting more antioxidants can reduce our risk for certain types of cancer, including cancer of the: stomach, prostate, colon, breast, bladder esophagus, pancreas, and possibly many more. Besides cancer, antioxidants have been shown to help prevent other serious problems, such as: cardiovascular diseases, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and vision problems. It is likely that antioxidants can help prevent other diseases and disorders, but their full effects simply haven't been studied yet.

Antioxidants prevent the oxidation of bad cholesterol. When this type of cholesterol oxidizes, it can attach to the walls of blood vessels causing heart disease. This increases the risk for heart attack and stroke. Oxidized cholesterol also contributes to the hardening of blood vessel walls increasing the risk of high blood pressure. Antioxidants can help keep your heart and the rest of your circulatory system healthy.

Another great benefit of antioxidants is that they help boost the immune system. If you get sufficient levels of antioxidants, you're not only less likely to get sick; it's also easier for you to fight off diseases you may get. Along these lines, antioxidants can also help you heal faster when you have an injury; large or small.

So what are you waiting for? Today is the best day to start eating right or taking supplements to get more of these wonderfully healthy antioxidants.

Note: This is a chunky vegetable soup and you can omit or add vegetables to suit your taste. You can replace the potatoes for sweet potatoes for a sweeter tasting soup. Leeks and winter cabbage also work well.

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage cut into quarters
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
2 celery stalks, finely sliced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
7 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 zucchinis, diced
2 cups of cauliflower florets
2 fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Salt and black pepper
Fresh chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions:

Slice the cabbage quarters into thin strips. Heat the oil in a large soup pan and add the cabbage, carrots, celery and parsnips cook over low heat for approximately 10 minutes, stir often so vegetables don't stick to pan. (you may need to add a tablespoon of stock).

Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes, zucchinis, cauliflower and tomatoes with a little chopped fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Serve into warm soup bowls and garnish with a little chopped fresh parsley.