Following last Friday’s indulgence of deep fried onion bhajis with a date chutney, I felt the need to start over and treat my body to something nourishing and healthy again. Bring on our chickpea and vegetable soup! As days are getting shorter and colder (yes, even Greek islands’ weather gets rough over winter) a big pot of soup bubbling away on the stove suddenly feels like a great idea. It’s funny how I think back to the relentless and seemingly endless summer heat when a mere thought of a bowl of soup was enough to make me break into an uncontrollable sweat. All this warmth is a distant memory now as we descend into a few months of ridiculously strong, cold winds. It’s this windy weather that made me ditch my running routine last winter. I’m adamant that it won’t get in the way this year as I try to cherry pick the ‘not so bad days’ to run on, which, let’s face it, would never see me out of the house when I lived in London. This is when a bowl of warm and spicy soup comes in handy. There is nothing better than a bowl of comforting chickpea and vegetable soup after I’ve been out running, with the wind blowing so strongly it was if I was pushing against a giant invisible STOP sign hand in front of me. While living in Greece is dreamy in many ways, its extreme weather patterns tend to wreak havoc on your running unless you are prepared to suffer A LOT.
1 small garlic clove, sliced 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves pinch of coarse salt handful of walnuts 3 tbsp / 45 ml extra virgin olive oil squeeze of lemon grind of black pepper
