20 Sep Pea, broccoli and leek stew for healthy guts

A gut challenge recipe

I always feel a bit overwhelmed after the summer holidays with everything that needs to be organised for our family to function properly and healthy guts are on the to-do list. After eating ice-cream and croissants on a daily basis, our guts could be forgiven for feeling somewhat sluggish, yet I realise how important they are to our wellbeing, cognitive functioning and emotional responses. It’s difficult to just get back to everything as it was before the holidays. As an ADHD family, everything hangs in a rather precarious balance, so, we reset the guts incrementally, one, tiny step at a time. This year, I decided to do a healthy guts challenge on Instagram, which shows the whole process (also described in The Gutsy Kids Cookbook). This stew is one of my favourite recipes from the past two weeks.

The stew

Peas, broccoli and leek are some of the best vegetables you can eat in terms of your guts. They be the most common of veggies, but peas are some of the most fibre rich vegetables, probably since they are actually legumes and related to beans. Leeks contain specific types of fibre – inulin and fructo-oligosaccharides, which feed beneficial gut bacteria and protect the gut lining. Broccoli also has a strong, proven effect on our gut microbiome and plenty of fibre. All in all, the is the super stew for healthy guts.

A recipe for pea, broccoli and leek stew

This recipe is loosely based on a Portugese dish I had once. The common factor being that it was a pea stew. Apart from that it was quite different, yet I still think of that dish every time I make it, so worth a mention.