Amazing Autumn Switch

@1humblepalateCan one say it is too early to bring out ouma’s three-legged pot for the heavy stews and potjiekos as yet?

A weird mini cold front hit the city last week and trust me, I felt the cold. It led me to run to my big stew pot and unleash chaos in the kitchen. I literally grabbed anything and everything that was in the fridge that I could throw in one pot and indulge, unashamedly, over an episode of my favourite series.

Autumn has surely arrived, or at least the African version of it where some days are cooler, and the rest return back to the blazing hot normal. It’s a bit of a see-saw and this then results in massive confusion kitchen-wise.

I always maintain, in essence we have two seasons: hot and cold. If it’s not hot, it’s cold and vice versa.

The sniffles are making themselves felt, and a slight cold developing is easier now than before. The time to really back up your immune system has arrived.

Adjusting one’s diet to fit the weather is trickiest at this time, but I usually go with the ‘wing it’ principle, where you ‘feel’ what it is like outside and decide whether you are going to make something dense and heavy or light and bright.

We have a bit of a horrible habit of eating heavy in the evenings, but that mainly stems from our very active lifestyle, where we leave for work or school early, have something basic at lunch, and then congregate for the evening family meal.

Your metabolism is sometimes known to speed up during winter, which is why we can afford to eat heavier, and we tend to get those starchy, creamy, carby cravings. So what do we consume during this switch-over period? Well, we don’t want to dive into the heavy starchy carbs as yet, as they might leave us feeling lethargic and extremely sluggish, when we still need to move a bit more.

Pulses and legumes should be pronouncing themselves more in our diet, supported by grains like barley and buckwheat. Lentils as well are great for this time of the year.

The other day, as I was saying in the beginning, it decided to rain and got rather cold. I decided to whip up a soup of epic proportions, in that I was alone but made soup for six people. I mean it freezes well, so I’m covered for those slightly nippy days.

Autumn Soup Delight

1 pack boerewors (ideally the thicker variety)

1 tin butter beans

1 pack button/brown mushrooms

1 onion (chopped)

1 carrot chopped into chunks or circles

Sweet piquante peppers (optional)

4 garlic cloves

Red, yellow and green peppers (half each, chopped)

Tomato paste

1 vegetable/beef stock cube

2 tablespoons tomato soup powder

¾ tablespoon flour

Spice mix (¾ teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons ground pepper, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon ground coriander)

2 tablespoons mixed herbs

Put your boerewors in a medium to large pot with a bit of oil and cook on medium heat until brown, without overcooking. Remove and place aside.

In the same pot place onions and peppers and cook until soft. Add carrots and stir for a few minutes.

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