Traditional Scottish Curried Lentil Soup; for Diabetics too!

A healthy choice, but no foo-foo, just a great recipe for traditional Scottish Curried Lentil Soup.
And this is a carbohydrate adjusted soup for diabetics (like me) but leaving out just carbs, not TASTE!

Ingredients; 1lb carrots, 1 lb Rutabaga (turnip/neeps), 1 cauliflower, 4oz RED lentils, 1 Onion, 4 chicken stock cubes (buy Pollo mexican, they're cheaper.... see, told you I was Scottish)
(For Tomato and Lentil soup, just add two tins chopped tomatoes at the start, and reduce water by 1 pint)

Method; Bring to boil 3 pints of water with the stock cubes. Chop Carrots, Rutabaga, WHOLE cauliflower and onion; add to the boiling stock, cover, and boil sharply for an hour. Turn down the heat, and add RED lentils, boil GENTLY for an hour, stirring frequently.

That's the soup ready..... for wimps!
(Or traditionalists; The soup is actually ready to eat at this point, and totally traditional Scottish fare.)
And for diabetics, the cauliflower tastes just like the potatoes that "should" have been added, but the carbs have been almost totally wiped out.
(Yes, I know that lentils, carrots and rutabaga have carbs, but not much.)

Now for the 'special' ingredients;

You can add....... 2 tablespoons curry powder..... for Curried Lentil Soup.
You can add....... 5 tablespoons curry powder..... for REALLY Curried Lentil Soup
You can add....... a huge dollop of A1 sauce, Worcester sauce, (or any other stuff you might think appeals).
Parmesan cheese is good, ginger spice, turmeric, saffron, absinthe, ground mammoth tusks, rhino horn; whatever warms the cockles of your heart.

And whatever you do, DON'T listen to the idiots that think you can make this with any old lentils.... I'm a Manchester United Supporter.... THEY HAVE TO BE RED LENTILS!!!
(Please trust me on this... I don't have shares in the "Red Lentil Co."; crappy green/brown lentils taste like dirt when they're cooked.)
For more recipes, look at the last post, or hit the "Soup Yourself Thinner" book, on the carousel on the right.

Carbohydrate Intolerance; How Diabetics can cope.

Carbohydrate Intolerance is one of the new buzzphrases that seems to catch the ear.
"What's it all about?" I hear you say, right on cue.
Basically, a person suffering from Carbohydrate Intolerance can't process carbs efficiently. Not that a 'normal' person would notice, of course, there's no symptoms, you don't turn green overnight or anything.
Some diabetics notice though.
Some of us have the double whammy; Diabetes AND Carbohydrate Intolerance.
If you have both these conditions, even a small amount of carbs can knock the blood sugar of a diabetic over the 200 mark for as long as 18 hours, thus rendering their whole day a catastrophe.
Your blood numbers stay high, despite your seemingly great efforts.
I found out the hard way; I tracked my carb intake, and set out to make carb-free soups; that soon outlined the problem. My blood numbers fell almost overnight.
So, I didn't waste any time; after three months of great sugar numbers, I'm telling you all the secret.
Inside the book, there's my personal story, then the soup method explained in depth, then a bunch of delicious soup recipes. (And a couple of stews and chili's too)
Click on the book cover to go straight to Amazon.

Scottish Vampire; Braveheart with Fangs!

The Scottish Vampire; is there room in this already littered genre for such a story?

I, personally, think there is.

Scottish mythology is filled with fairies, water sprites and banshees, perhaps this is the vampire myth coming to rest on the heather-covered hills.

The Irish Banshee is transfered to Scottish culture as the Baobhan Sith; the Ba'van-shee.

According to legend, once a year, the Ba'van-shee rises from her grave. In the form of a beautiful woman, clad in a green flowing dress, the creature roams the woods and forests by night to feed on young men.

Sometimes acting alone, they also combine into hunting parties, seducing men into drink and dancing, ultimately drinking their blood.

Sure sounds like a vampire legend to me!

Anyway, I'm currently 40,000 words into the project, and wondered what the cover would look like.

I'm not sure that Mel Gibson would donate his picture, but he does look good with fangs!