Leek, mushroom, carrot & kale in a creamy thyme sauce

Ingredients

 300g button mushrooms, sliced

1 leek, white part only, washed, 1 cm slices

4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 bunch kale, washed and chopped up, you can take the stalk out if you want to

2 cups vege/chicken stock

¼ cup cream, you can omit if you want

1 tablespoon chopped thyme, you could dried thyme or a different herb (1-2 tsp)

3 teaspoons (approx.) corn/rice flour

Salt and pepper

Method

In a wok or really big pan, melt a little butter and add the leek, mushroom and carrot, stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Add stock and thyme and simmer for 10 mins or until the veg is to your liking. Add cream, stir in then sprinkle over flour evenly over the veg and stir in, it will thicken, if you want it thicker sprinkle over a little more flour. Add kale and wilt down for 3 mins or so. Season with salt and pepper.

You can add sliced chicken/beef etc with the leeks or throw some prawns/fish in at the last 5 minutes of cooking.

 I like this dish- the leek has our sulphur group, the carrot has our beta-carotene, the kale is our green leafy group, full of folate, vitamin K, beta-carotene and the mushrooms have selenium, riboflavin and copper.

   Thyme contains many active principles that are found to have disease preventing and health promoting properties.

 Thyme herb contains thymol, one of the important essential oils, which scientifically has been found to have antiseptic, anti-fungal characteristics. The other volatile oils in thyme include carvacolo, borneoland geraniol.

  Thyme contains many flavonoid phenolic antioxidants like zea-xanthin, lutein, pigenin, naringenin, luteolin,and thymonin. Fresh thyme herb has one of the highest antioxidant levels among herbs, a total ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value of 27426-µmol TE/100 g.

  Thyme is packed with minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. Its leaves are one of the richest sources of potassium, iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is required for red blood cell formation.