Recipes for those Chilly Wintery Nights

Winter can be a gloomy time of year – cold, rainy and missing that burst of colour that summer offers up. There is one way to beat the winter blues, however, and that is with food. Adding some colour and flavour into your life can spice up your winter days and get you through healthy and optimistic for the summer ahead. Here are some great winter recipes, from some of the worlds best chefs:

Minestrone Soup

As far as soups are concerned the Minestrone option is one of the best for winter. It gives us the perfect balance of wholesome and hearty. Jamie Oliver’s Minestrone is of particular interest here: a huge dose of vegetables including onion, carrots, celery, courgette, leek, potato; mixed in with a couple of streaks of smoky streaky bacon. The nutrients and satisfaction in this winter recipe are second to none – a perfect meal after your long winter walk at the beach.

Slow Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

Nigella Lawson is famous for her easy yet delicious recipes, and she doesn’t disappoint with this classic Garlic and Lemon Chicken recipe. A roast is to winter what a BBQ is to summer. It’s as simple as getting the ingredients together and putting everything in the roasting dish, with the scent of lemon and thyme energising your gloomy winter atmosphere. While lemon is traditionally a summer ingredient, every now and then it should be used in winter to add colour and energy to winter living. Yum!!!

Moroccan Chicken Hotpot

With a name like that, New Zealand’s own Chelsea Winter knows how to get through winter. Her Moroccan Chicken Hotpot is a classic example of that: warm, hearty and delicious. Another chicken dish, seasoned and accompanied by all the flavoursome offerings of Moroccan cuisine: apricots, prunes, tomato, honey, coconut cream, ginger, coriander and much, much more. Chelsea recommends serving the dish on couscous, quinoa or rice with garnishing’s of zest, yoghurt, herbs and a dash of lemon and flaked almonds.