Dr Gillian McKeith's Aduki Bean Stew

This is a recipe from Dr Gillian McKeith's 'You Are What You Eat Cookbook', one of the more palatable recipes and great for detox, very tasty, full of vitamins and ultra healthy. Very simple to make, you will need:-

200g of aduki beans, pre-soaked for 12 hours (or alternatively you can buy a tin of aduki beans from one of the larger supermarkets, which cuts out the soaking time)

1 wheat free vegetable stock cube (I used a Kallo Just Bouillon vegetable stock cube)

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced

1 leek finely sliced
Half a butternut squash, peeled and cut into bit size chunks

250g curly kale (I only used half this amount as found that 250g was far too much)

Half teaspoon of ground cumin (I used one full teaspoon for extra taste)

Half teaspoon of ground turmeric

4 tablespoons of freshly chopped chervil (I used fresh parsley as I wasn't able to get hold of any chervil and only used 2 - 3 tablespoons rather than 4)

If using dried beans which have been soaked for 12 hours, drain and rinse, then place in large pan and cover with water, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse.

If using tinned aduki beans you will not need to boil them for 15 minutes but you must drain and rinse them before use.

Put the beans in a pan with one litre of cold water, add stock cube and bring to the boil, simmer for 10 minutes. Add the vegetables, cumin and turmeric and continue to simmer for a further 10 - 15 minutes.

Add the kale and cook for a further few minutes until kale is tender, add the chervil, mix well and serve with millet mash (as described in the book) or with mashed potatoes, rice, couscous or salad. You could even serve as side dish to accompany cooked meat.

Serves 4