As I prepared this borlotti bean soup on World Food Day, I’ve been thinking all day about the people around the world who don’t have enough to eat.

In support, I decided to remind myself of all the things in my life I need to be grateful for…not take it for granted. You can see that post on Instagram here. I also wanted to lower my footprint by eating only vegetarian and you can see my Facebook posts about what I ate for brunch here.

Fasting

Lastly, but most importantly, I decided to fast. You’re probably asking how I can eat and fast at the same time?! Well, first of all, I stopped eating at 20.00 (8pm) last night and didn’t have brunch until 11.00 this morning. That’s 16hrs fast already. Then dinner happened at 20.00 (just eating now!). I’ve also only eaten about 25% of what I would normally eat in a day and spacing it out a lot. I just simply chose a quarter of what is recommended for a female (2000kcals); so my goal was to eat no more than 500kcals in the day.

If you know me, you know that I don’t like to focus on calories, but the quality. In this case, it was easier to demonstrate what you might eat by calculating the calories. The rest of the day I’ve drunk a LOT of water and herbal teas! This helps stave off hunger and keeps you hydrated…talk about a clear mind!

So I turned to the database I use for calculating nutritional content of recipes I make. This is not something you can buy, but was developed by my partner, X. There are programmes around that calculate calories, but none of them suited my purpose. Here is a screenshot of what it looks like for my entire day’s food.

All I needed to do was calculate the day and make my food. I’m sharing my delicious dinner recipe with you here below and I cooked for one, since X was on his way to Vietnam for holidays. What I REALLY did was made a big pot and then portioned it out for the freezer…for a rainy day. So whomever you’re cooking for, even if it’s for yourself, just multiply these ingredients by the number of portions you want to have.

tsp = teaspoon | tbsp = tablespoon

Hearty Borlotti Bean Soup

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 50g tinned borlotti beans
• Water – this depends on whether you prefer a thick or watery soup, but start with 2 cups and add as needed
• 1 tomato (I used fresh)
• 1/2 onion
• 10 slices of leek
• 1/2 clove of garlic
• 1/2 medium carrot
• 1tsp thyme
• 1tsp sage
• 1tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the beans and set aside.  Heat up the pot on medium and add the olive oil or coconut oil. Chop your veg and add to the frying pan to soften slightly. Add water and bring the water to a boil. You can now add your herbs and beans and allow to simmer until the vegetables are soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then take it off the heat. The flavours will be better with time, so making this the day before is the best option, but it can also be eaten on the same day. Congratulations, you’ve made a simple, healthy fasting soup.

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NOTE: Please note that fasting should be done with the guidance of a Nutritional Therapist or your doctor. It’s important to always drink a lot of water and avoid excessive exercise.