Curried Squash, Lentil & Coconut Soup

Flavor up butternut squash with Indian spices for this warming and healthy vegetarian soup. From BBCGoodFood.com and recommended as an immune-boosting recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
• 200g carrot, diced
• 1 tbsp curry powder containing turmeric
• 100g red lentil
• 700ml low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 can reduced-fat coconut milk
• coriander and naan bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the squash and carrots, sizzle for 1 min, then stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 min more. Tip in the lentils, the vegetable stock and coconut milk and give everything a good stir. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15-18 mins until everything is tender.
2. Using a hand blender or in a food processor, blitz until as smooth as you like. Season and serve scattered with roughly chopped coriander and some naan bread alongside.

Nutritional Info

178 calories, 7g fat, 5g saturated fat, 22g carbs, 9g sugars, 4g fiber, 6g protein, 0.4g salt

Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Immune System

A strong immunity system is essential to staying healthy.

A healthy diet can help maintain it. Basic steps include exercising regularly; limiting our alcohol; avoiding too much sun; losing extra weight; and not smoking.

The disease-fighting benefits come from maintaining healthy habits over a period of time. A glass of OJ this morning isn’t going to jumpstart your immune system into the stratosphere by the afternoon.

An immune-healthy diet includes a rich range of food choices. In fact, that variety is part of what makes it so effective – including fruits and vegetables of every color. So, load up your grocery cart with all the colors of the rainbow (or at least the produce section).

The Cleveland Clinic advocates for the power of three vitamins – C, B and E. That means, citrus, strawberries, spinach and broccoli; plus, chicken, salmon, tuna and green vegetables; and nuts, seeds and spinach.

WebMD adds button mushrooms, oysters, watermelon, low-fat yogurt, tea (white, green or black, regular or decaf), garlic, miso, ginger and – seriously – chicken soup.

And AARP encourages us to eat lean beef, legumes and pumpkin, as well.

Remember to drink plenty of water every day and always get enough rest.

Then you’ll be giving your immune system everything you can to protect you from invaders new and old.