Soups

A great way to pack in nutrients is to cook soup and it is so quick and easy. It is also a great way to use up vegetables, so you can use almost any combination, but here are a few recipes to get started with. Also a great way to plan for lunches, I make a batch and it normally lasts up to 5 days in the fridge and is enough for 3 days. You can freeze them in individual serves, so it is easy to grab and heat up, if you do not fancy having soup for the whole week.

Tomato Soup

I used to love a tomato soup when it was cold or when I was sick. I always had the tinned Campbells soup. Now though I probably cannot eat it, as no doubt it has gluten and diary in it. I realise I make soup all of the time, yet I have never made a tomato soup. So here it is, really simple and a great way to use up tomatoes.

• 1 carrot
• 3 or 4 large tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 fresh turmeric
• 2 tsp basil
• Dessert spoon stock (pint water)
• Preheat oven 200c/ 180c fan

1. Put the whole tomatoes, onion, carrot and garlic in a casserole dish and cook in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

2. Take out of the oven and peel the skins from the tomatoes. Add pint stock, together with the herbs and grated turmeric.

3. Cook for a further 30 minutes and then blend down.

4. Serve with plant based or lactose free yoghurt (optional)

Mexican Black Bean Soup

This is a rich, tasty soup, full of protein and vitamins. It takes a while to cook, because of the beans, but well worth it. You can buy tinned beans to cut down the time it takes. Tinned beans are already pre cooked, so they would just need to be warmed through. This made 3 serves.

• Cup Black beans
• 2 Mixed capsicums mixed colours (peppers).
• 3 or 4 florets of Broccoli
• 4 carrots
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• Vegan stock (pint and half)
• Dollop tomato purée (2 dessert spoons)
• 2 dessert spoons Mexican paste
• Curly parsley
• Vegan cheese

1. Chop and fry off garlic and shallot, for a couple of minutes.

2. Add all the chopped vegetables into the saucepan with the stock.

3. Ensure you thoroughly rinse the beans, before you use them. Add the beans and vegetables, together with the paste and purée. Season. Add a handful of parsley.

4. Cook for approximately 1hr 15. You can pre cook the beans if you want the night before with stock, but the beans do take at least an hour. I found the flavour was great, because it had been cooked over a long period. Because the vegetables are cooked in the soup, then the nutrients are still retained.

5. Top off with a little bit of cheese, if you fancy it.

Carrot, Beetroot and Lentil Soup

This is a really quick and simple soup, full of protein from the lentils, also filling and healthy. I try to ensure I add some kind of protein to most meals, as I find it keeps you fuller for longer. 3 servings

• 1 Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Beetroot
• 1/4 Cabbage
• Half cup Lentils (Red)
• Smoked Paprika
• Stock (pint and half)

1. Fry off the onion and a teaspoon of paprika. Add a pint of stock and after chopping all the vegetables, add them as well.

2. You can use as many vegetables as you like, just increase the stock, or add a little during cooking, if the soup is too thick. Add the lentils and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. I tend to blend my soups down a little with a hand mixer. I have served with a dollop of lactose free yoghurt and fresh coriander.

Mushroom and Broccoli Soup

Mushroom is a great protein and it goes really well with broccoli. Simple soup for a cold day.

• 1/2 Broccoli
• 2 carrots
• pint and half Stock
• Half pack Mushrooms
• 1 Onion
• Fresh Thyme

1. Chop and fry off the onion and mushrooms in a little oil.

2. Add chopped carrot, broccoli and the stock, season.

3. Cook for about 30 minutes. Add extra stock or water if needed. Blend, but leave a bit of texture. Serve

Borscht

One of my favourite soups is borscht, originating from Russia this beetroot soup is thick and warming. Originally with meat, but mine is of course vegan friendly. You can roast up a few beetroots and use them for other meals. 3 serves

• 3 Carrots
• 1 Onion
• 1 Potato (large)
• 2 Roasted Beetroot (large)
• 1/4 Cabbage (red or white)
• 2 cloves garlic
• Pint vegan stock

1. I tend to roast off my beetroot, as it gives a lovely, sweet and rich flavour, but you can just add them and cook them within the soup. You can also add roasted garlic to the soup. If roasting first, it takes about 40 minutes for the beetroot and about 10 minutes for the garlic.
2. Chop and put the onion in a saucepan and fry off, add the rest of the chopped vegetables and fry off for a couple of minutes, season and add the stock. Cook for 35-40 minutes. Add more water if it is too thick. Blend until smooth. serve

Carrot and Ginger Soup

So many options for this soup, in this version it has a delicious ginger kick. I do love a bit of spice or punchy kick to flavours. I have used dried ginger in this recipe, but it is much better if you buy fresh ginger and use about a thumbnail size. 3 Serves.

• 3 Carrots
• 2 tspn Ginger
• tspn Chilli
• tspn Cumin
• tspn paprika
• 1 Onion
• Pint and a half stock
• Coriander

1. Chop all the vegetables and add the onion to the saucepan with a little oil. Fry off, together with the chilli, cumin and paprika.
2. Add the chopped carrots, then add the stock and a handful of chopped coriander. Cook for about 30 minutes.
3. Once cooked, serve with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh coriander.

Pumpkin Turmeric Soup

This was way more amazing than I expected! Think it took me by surprise, not only is it beautiful yellow orange colour very enticing to eat, it tastes great. Just a little different than the standard pumpkin soup, creamy and delicious. Such as simple soup to make, although I always think that. I added some broccoli at the last minute too and that added to the nutrients and worked really well together. I forgot I had fresh turmeric, so used the powder, but in the picture below is fresh turmeric, so you know what to look out for. It looks a little bit like a worm! Serves 2

• dessert spoon dried turmeric or you can use fresh grated in
• 1/2 butternut squash
• 1 onion
• dessert spoon vegan stock
• tsp dried mixed herbs
• Few leaves of sage
• Few florets of broccoli (optional)

1. Firstly, cut slices of the pumpkin, I cut off three and then roast off the pumpkin for about 20 minutes, with a little oil and sprinkle with dried herbs 200c / 180c fan
2. Next fry off a chopped onion in a saucepan, add the pumpkin, stock, sage and about 1 litre of water, leave to cook for about 30 minutes.
3. For the last few minutes I added the broccoli to cook, then once cooked, I scooped out. Then blended the soup down into a fine soup. Then added the broccoli to serve. I drizzled over some left over lactose free cream I had in the fridge (Like a dessert spoon full)

Red Lentil and Mushroom Soup

Another great combination, lentils and mushrooms. I always work out what soup I am cooking, with what vegetables are left over at the end of the week. I kept this one really simple, as I did not have much left in the fridge!

• cup red lentils
• 6-8 mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 Green beans
• Pint and half vegan stock
• Parsley and thyme
• tsp chilli

1. Chop up all of the vegetables, ensuring that you remove the ends of the beans.
2. Add the garlic to the saucepan, with a little oil and fry off, add the mushrooms and fry just for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, including the fresh herbs, I just had a handful of each and ensure you season the soup. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Serve.

Curried carrot and chard

Really quick and easy soup, just carrots, greens, stock, garlic, spices and water. Delicious smell as you cook this one and it is so good the next day.

• 1 clove garlic
• Pint vegan stock
• Tsp smoked paprika
• Tsp turmeric
• Dessert spoon curry powder
• 4 or 5 carrots
• Couple leaves chard or cavalero Nero

1. Chop and add everything to a saucepan, season and cook for 30 minutes. It’s that easy!

2. Blend down a little, but still leave some chunks. Add coriander if you love it like me!