James Bond’s diet at Shrublands health farm, as described in Thunderball (1961), includes vegetable soup, which he takes every day at midday in a plastic mug. The soup may be something like the ‘potassium broth’ that Bond learns about while reading Nature Cure Explained (1950) by Alan Moyle. The book, which seems to be the clinic’s core text, is genuine and even has a recipe for the broth, and I’ve adapted that recipe below. On Alan Moyle’s instructions, I haven’t included salt, and in fact the soup is tasty enough without it (despite its muddy green appearance), but you may prefer to add a bit of salt after cooking. By all means have some bread with the soup, but since Alan Moyle considers white bread to have little nutritional value, I suggest a few slices of rye or wholewheat bread.

Serves many

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• A handful (c. 20g) of watercress, coarsely chopped
• A handful or two (c. 80g) of spinach, coarsely chopped
• A bunch (c. 10-15g) of parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1¼ litres water

Put all the vegetables into a large saucepan. Fill the pan with the water, cover it with a lid and place it over a high heat. Bring the water to a boil. Remove the lid and allow the soup to simmer for 25-30 minutes. Pour the soup into a blender (in batches, if necessary) and blend until fairly smooth. Transfer the soup to a large bowl and ladle individual portions into mugs. Alan Moyle recommends that you do not gulp it down or take it too hot.