fbpx
info@thebodyretreat.co.uk
Call us today on:   +44 (0)203 701 1603
The Body Retreat

The Body Retreat

Women Only Weight Loss & Wellbeing Retreats

Author: Jabernet

Carrot and Tumeric Juice

This refreshing carrot, tumeric, lemon and ginger juice is easy to make and a great way to boost your immune system.

Serves 2
  • 500g carrots
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 inch ginger tumeric
  • 1 inch fresh ginger

The key to this juice is to make sure the ingredients are fresh, especially the carrots. Make sure the carrots are nice and hard, if not you’ll get a very soft tasting juice.

Like most juices its super simple to make, pass everything through the juicer and enjoy within 24 hours.

Black Bean and Red Pepper Burgers

These black bean burgers are a great vegetarian alternative for a summer BBQ (or indoor BBQ!).

I’ve used black beans and chickpeas but you can use any other tinned beans you have in your cupboard. I love the Mexican flavours of black bean, jalapeno, coriander and lime but you could use haricot, butter bean or kidney.

Serves 4
  • 1 x 400g tin of black beans, drained
  • 1/2 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1/2 red pepper
  • 2 spring onions
  • Small handful of fresh coriander, plus extra to serve
  • 4-6 slices of pickled jalapeno, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 40-80g quinoa flakes
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp yoghurt
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle or harissa paste

The key to these black bean red pepper burgers is blitzing half the beans into a smooth paste and keeping some texture in the other half. You will have to adjust the amount of quinoa flakes depending how wet your mixture is.

The burgers can be prepped in advance, fry them so they have some colour on both sides, cool, then place covered in the fridge until ready to bake in a hot oven.

Method for Black Bean and Red Pepper Burgers:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
  2. Put half the beans in a food processor and blitz into a smooth paste, make sure to scrape down the sides of mixer.
  3. Finely dice the red pepper and slice spring onion. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan, fry spring onions for a couple of minutes before adding peppers, cook for 5 minutes or until softened.
  4. Roughly chop coriander and add to the bean paste along with chopped jalapeno, 1/2 the lime juice, coriander and cumin then blitz.
  5. Add the rest of the beans and cooked spring onion and pepper. Pulse the food processor, keeping some texture in the beans. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper.
  6. Finally add the egg and 50g of quinoa flakes, mix by hand to avoid breaking down the beans too much. Add more quinoa flakes if the mixture feels too wet, you want the burgers to hold together but not be too sticky.
  7. Divide the mixture into four and make into patties (roughly 100g each).
  8. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat for a couple of minutes until hot. Fry each burger patty on one side for 5 mins before gently flipping and cooking on the other side, you want some colour on both sides.
  9. Once fried on either side pop onto a tray and in the oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked all the way through.
  10. Mix the mayo, yogurt and chipotle/harissa paste together adding the rest of the lime juice to taste.

Serve with a dollop of the spiced mayo, pickled jalapeno, fresh coriander and salad.

Sunshine Soup

Yellow lentils, sweetcorn and peppers give this sunshine soup it’s beautiful bright colour.

Roasting the peppers and garlic gives a sweeter flavour but we’re not looking for much colour on the peppers as this will darken the colour of the soup.  You can peel the skin from the peppers for a smoother soup, though this is not necessary. The garlic can be roasted in its skin, simply squeeze each roasted clove into the cooked lentils.

Serves 4
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 orange pepper
  • 2 tsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 lt vegetable or chicken stock
  • 100g yellow lentils
  • 400g frozen sweetcorn
  • Salt & pepper
  • Dollop of creme fraiche or yoghurt (to serve)

On retreat we make a variety of different soups and everyone has their own preference. If you like a completely smooth soup don’t remove the sweetcorn before blitzing. For a textured soup with a bit more of a bite leave out the blending altogether.

Method for Sunshine soup:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Remove the core and the seeds from the peppers and cut into strips. Place onto a tray with the garlic and drizzle with oil. Roast them for 20 minutes, you want the peppers soft but not brown.
  3. Pour the stock into a saucepan and bring to boil, add the lentils cook for 15 minutes.
  4. Add celery and sweetcorn to the lentils stock mixture cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  5. Using a slotted spoon remover about a cup of sweetcorn and set to one side.
  6. Mix the remaining corn and stock with the roast peppers and garlic, squeezing the roasted garlic clove from its skin. Blitz in a food processor until as smooth as you prefer.
  7. Add the whole sweetcorn back to the soup and season with salt and pepper.
  8. To serve top each bowl with a dollop of creme fraiche, a drizzle of rapeseed oil and a sprinkling of toasted buckwheat groats.

On retreat we serve our sunshine soup with two Sourdough rye crisp breads.

Leave out the creme fraiche for a vegan version or use a dairy free alternative.

Greek Bean Stew

This Greek bean stew is full of fresh herbs and tomatoes, a lovely light evening meal in this warmer weather. The sauce is cooked low and slow to create rich flavours.

Serves 4
  • 1 onion
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 stick celery, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 400g tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 2 tbsp chopped dill
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 400g can of butter beans (drained)
  • 400g can of other beans (cannelloni/borloti/kidney)
  • 100g feta cheese, cut into cubes (plus extra to serve)
  • Rocket (to serve)
  • Toasted sunflower seeds (to serve)

Method for Greek Bean Stew:

  1. Slice the onion and fry in a heavy bottomed pan with the oil on a medium low heat (about 5 minutes).
  2. Add the diced celery and cook for another few minutes. Once the onions and celery are cooked add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
  3. Chop the tomatoes and add to the pan along with tomato puree and 500ml water. Stir in the bay leaves, paprika, black pepper, parsley and half of the dill. Bring to a gentle simmer and partly cover the pan. ave for 20 mins until the sauce has begun to thicken.
  4. Add the beans and cook for further 10 minutes.
  5. Turn the heat down low add the feta and stir through. You want the feta to be warmed through but still in chunks. This can also be done by turning off the heat and storing the feta through.
  6. To serve surround the plate with rocket, place the stew in the middle of the plate, top with remaining dill, a sprinkling of feta and toasted sunflower seeds.

Make this meal vegan by swapping the feta for a vegan alternative. Instead of adding the vegan cheese to the stew just crumble on top, it doesn’t mix in quite as well.

Egg Mayo Lettuce Sandwich

At tracebridge we’re inundated with fresh lettuce leaves at the moment and despite being a baker I also enjoy a meal without bread!

This lunch option is great, lighter on the digestion but still full of protein. On retreat we usually pair the lettuce sandwich with one of our blended soups and if it’s me in the kitchen you’ll see it alongside my roasted red pepper soup.

 

Serves 2
  • 4 Eggs
  • Iceberg or baby gem lettuce
  • 1 dsp mayonaise
  • 1 dsp natural yoghurt
  • Salt and pepper
  • Fresh chives
  • Dukkah (optional)
  • Sprouted seeds (optional)

The recipe is super simple. Treat the lettuce like you would bread or a wrap and get creative with the filling.

For the egg mayo we use mayonnaise and yoghurt to make a lighter filling but use just mayonnaise if you would prefer it to be dairy free. The older the egg the easier it is to peel – save your fresh eggs for poaching!

To make the egg mayonnaise:

  1. Boil the eggs in hot water for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the stove and run under cold tap to cool eggs down quickly.
  2. Peel the eggs and mash with a fork. Add the mayonnaise and yogurt and season to taste. Mix in some chopped chives.

To serve:

Carefully peel the outer leaf off the iceberg lettuce trying to keep the shape as much as possible. Top with the egg mayo, more chives, sprouted seeds and dukkah.

1 big iceberg leaf should be enough per person, use 2 leaves if using baby gem lettuce.

More filling ideas:

  • Beetroot hummus, grated carrot and sprouted seeds
  • Butter bean, tomato, cucumber, dill and feta
  • Savoury cashew cream and black beans (Mexican Black Bean Salad)
  • Poached chicken, avocado, tomato and toasted seeds
  • Broad bean, pea, mint, a squeeze of lemon and goats curd