As winter flirts with us you know what this means … soups glorious soups! I love a good soup, so easy to make and anything really goes. At the moment I am planning and preparing the menu for a health retreat in Byron Bay coming up in June, so I have been baking away in the kitchen compiling a list of warming, clean and wholesome vegan foods, of which I am planning on incorporating a few of my best soups because winter in Byron Bay – dayum it’s going to be cold! So here is one of my concoctions I whipped up over the weekend, Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup. You are getting huge douses of Vitamin K from all the orange veggies and your protein and fibre from the chickpeas and lentils. Some chilli is thrown in there for that extra fire in ze belly too! This meal is winter proof! ha ha.

Serves 4-5

What Do I Need?

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 long red chilli, seeded and chopped, plus extra to garnish

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

500g butternut pumpkin, chopped

350g orange sweet potato, chopped

3 carrots

1.5 litres vegetable stock

125g or 1/2 cup red lentils

1 cup chickpeas

1 tablespoon tahini

What Do I Do?

1. Soak chickpeas overnight. When ready to cook, boil the soaked chickpeas for approximately 10 minutes until softened.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Saute the chilli, garlic and onion over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion has softened.

3. Reduce the heat to low, add the pumpkin, sweet potato and carrots, then cover and cook for 8 minutes, sitrring occasionally.

4. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lentils, put the lid back on and cook for 10 minutes until tender.

5. Process the soup in batches in a blender or with a stick mixer in the pot. Add the tahini and blend until smooth. Return to the saucepan and gently reheat. Add the cooked chickpeas to the blended soup. Serve garnished with chilli and herb of choice.