I have fallen stupendously head over heels for this garden fresh and tasty take on the traditional taco. It has just the right amount of spice and lime-zing whilst still being incredibly flavoursome.

Who needs an El Paso seasoning mix loaded with hard to digest ingredients like sugar, dehydrated vegetables, hydrolysed soy protein, table salt, artificial flavourings, yeast extract, spices, acidity regulators sodium acetate, citric acid and colours such as caramel when you can easily opt for a more natural Mexican inspired dish.

If you're worried about making everything from scratch in one go, you can create all of the fillings the day before and refrigerate. When its taco time all you need to do is layer the fillings into a crispy cos lettuce leaf, scooping in some salsa and adding a dollop of sunflower seed cheese.

Recipe:

Serves 4

Taco Salsa

• 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 bunch basil, chopped
• Small handful mint, chopped
• 7 tomatoes, diced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 yellow pepper, finely diced
• 1 red chilli, chopped finely

Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the onion over a medium heat until lightly brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and fry until it starts to change colour. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

Add the salt, basil, mint, tomatoes, lime juice and yellow pepper.  Let sit for an hour or so to enhance the flavours before using.

Taco Filling

• 2 cups pre-soaked raw walnuts
• 2 TBS wheat free tamari
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix to a crumbly consistency. (Don't process for too long as it can turn into nut butter)

Sunflower Seed Cheese

• 1 cup sunflower seeds (soaked overnight)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• ½ tsp. sea salt

Place seeds in food processor and mix until a smooth paste. For a creamier cheese add filtered water. Place in refrigerator to firm up.

To serve

• 4 Cos lettuce leaves washed and drained
• 1 TBS nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 avocado chopped (optional)
• lime wedges (optional)

Place taco filling, salsa, avocado and cheese layered inside lettuce leaves and sprinkle with nutritional yeast flakes, sea salt and black pepper. Serve with lime wedges.

For more gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast and sugar-free recipes visit supercharged.wpengine.com

pumpkin soup in a bowl

The transition to autumn has seen many of my typical summer meals fly out of the window to be replaced with hot, flavoursome comfort foods. Soup is my new autumn go-to food and a winning companion for those cosy evenings indoors, watching the windows fog up as it burbles contentedly on the stove top.

Soups can be supercharged with a range of nutrient dense ingredients that will keep your immune system powering through this unusually cool weather and warm your heart with their every mouthful.

All you need to do is settle in and allow this delectable pumpkin and coconut soup to console you after a hard day’s work, or as a quick, satisfying lunch option combined with some toasted Spinach Bread Soldiers.

The creaminess of the coconut milk will whisk your imagination away to a deserted, warm tropical island. Absolute bliss! This recipe also contains some specific ingredients that will get your immune system fired up too:

Did you know that your immune system has a huge connection to your gut health? It is estimated that the gut is responsible for over 80% of your immune system response.

Coconut is a wonderful ingredient to improve the health of your gut and digestive system. Coconut oil has wonderful medicinal qualities to improve your immunity as it  has great anti-yeast and anti-viral, anti microbial and antibacterial properties. Coconut oil is also wonderful for the health of intestinal cells and gut flora. Here is some more information about good fats and oils.

Onion and garlic are highly renowned for their immune boosting properties. Onion contains significant amounts of quercetin; responsible for the protection and healing of damaged cells. Garlic promotes the growth of white blood cells, which help to fight germs in your system. Garlic is also a great natural antibiotic that will not harm your digestive system. It is great to take daily in order to prevent the development of harmful infections, viruses, and to ward off parasites.

Ginger is a great remedy to alleviate nausea, motion sickness, indigestion, bloating and morning sickness. It is also a great anti-inflammatory.

This soup is wonderfully tasty and will make you feel all warm and spicy inside, just look outside and see that now is the perfect time to indulge in home cooked comfort food.

It will only take you 20 minutes to pull together, but will keep your immune system happy and healthy in the long term.

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

Ingredients:
1 TBS coconut oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 tsp fresh ginger chopped finely
4 cups peeled and diced pumpkin
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (yeast and sugar free)
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 tsp nutmeg
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Method:

In a large saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in coconut oil until translucent
Add remaining ingredients, stirring to combine and bring to the boil
Cook on a medium heat for a further 15 minutes then remove and serve piping hot

For more gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast and sugar free recipes visit supercharged.wpengine.com

Happy Cooking 🙂

Lee xo