Tag: healthy soup

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Classic soup made from carrots, onions, celery, stock, ground coriander and coriander leaf.

Easy to prepare, and a joy to eat. This is one of my favourite soups and one I eat often. I have also done a bit of experimenting and came up with a recipe for carrot and coriander curry using leftover soup – a really amazing dish that I hope you will try.

You require a stick blender for this recipe.

Tip: thinly slicing the vegetables , although not necessary, helps cook them quicker.

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Carrot and Coriander Soup

4 Portions (2 large bowls plus leftovers for curry)

Preparation and cooking time 45 minutes

Ingredients and method

750g carrots – peel, trim ends and thinly slice

1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 bay leaf – remove before blending

3 white onions – peel, dice

3 sticks celery – trim, slice thinly

1.5 L vegetable stock

Handful of coriander leaf and stalks – keep a small amount for garnish and finely chop

1 heaped dessert spoon ground coriander

Salt and pepper – to taste

Method: Start by heating the oil in a deep soup/stock pot. Add the sliced carrot, onion, celery and bay leaf. Fry over medium heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften. You want to add a little colour for flavour but do not let the vegetables burn. Next add the heaped dessert spoon of ground coriander, plus a generous amount of ground black pepper and stir through the vegetables, fry for a further 3-4 minutes stirring frequently. It is vital not to burn the spice, if it catches on bottom of pan add a little water to loosen it.

Add the stock and the fresh coriander (retain a little for garnish), bring to the boil then place lid on pan and reduce to a simmer. Leave the soup to simmer for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the lid and stir well, make sure you scape any residue on sides of pan back into the soup – that’s where the flavour is!

Remove the bay leaf then use the stick blender to blitz the soup until smooth. Add the retained coriander (very finely chopped). Taste and add required salt (should not need much as salt in stock already). Serve in a bowls with some nice crusty bread.

Once cooled store any leftovers in the fridge, and use them the next day to make my carrot and coriander curry.

Ferret Chef7 Comments

Spiced Bean Soup

A rich, smokey and spicey soup of vegetables and mixed beans

A simple recipe for a rich, smokey, spicey and deeply flavoursome soup which is as healthy as it is delicious. A flavour base of onion, peas, garlic, carrot and celery is fried in a little olive oil then mixed beans, chipotle paste, spices, herbs, tomato paste and stock are added. Unlike most my soups this one is not blended so it is important to spend a little time cutting the vegetables so that they are all the same size and cook at the same time. The result is a soup with a really satisfying deep flavour – works brilliantly with a nice bacon roll (other fillings are available) or as a starter on its own.

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 This recipe gives 4 large portions

Preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 45 minutes

 

Ingredients and method

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 white onions – finely diced

3 sticks celery – finely diced

4 cloves garlic – crush finely chopped

50g garden peas

4 carrots – peel, finely diced

400g tin mixed beans (in water) – drain, rinse well

2 bay leafs

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp chipotle paste

2 dessert spoons tomato paste

1 dessert spoon brown sugar

1.5 litres vegetable/chicken stock

2 tbsp. chopped coriander leaf

salt and pepper

Method: Start by heating 2 tbsp. olive oil in a deep stock/soup pot then fry the onion, bay leafs, carrot, garlic, peas and celery for 5-7 minutes until slightly softened. Add the beans, the chipotle and tomato paste and mix well, then add the spices. Stir fry for a further 2 minutes then add in the stock, the chopped coriander, the sugar, a generous amount of black pepper and a little salt. Bring the soup to the boil then reduce to a simmer, cover pot with lid and cook for around 40 minutes. After this carefully remove lid and taste test the seasoning, add a little extra salt or pepper if required. Before serving remove the bay leafs then ladle the soup into bowls. Enjoy.

 

 

Ferret Chef1 Comment

Tomato soup

A simple recipe for simply delicious tomato soup.

The great deep flavour comes from a flavour base of garlic, onion, chilli, bay leaf, carrot celery and Romano pepper. A balance of spices – turmeric, cumin, coriander, saffron and smoked paprika adds another dimension. Plum tomatoes, seasoning, a little sugar, basil, parsley and coriander complete this tasty soup.

This recipe works wonderfully with my Easy Homemade Bread recipe.

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Recipe for 4 large portions

Preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 40-45 minutes

Ingredients and method

4-5 cloves garlic – peel, crush

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion – peel, dice

2 white onions – peel, dice

1 large red chilli – slice (keep seeds for extra heat if you wish)

2 bay leafs

3 carrots – peel, slice

2 sticks celery – slice

1 Romano red pepper – remove stalk and seeds, dice

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp smoked paprika

Pinch saffron

6 plum tomatoes – cut in half

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp dried basil

1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley – plus a little finely chopped as a garnish

Generous handful of fresh coriander  – leaf and stalk

1.5L stock – vegetable or chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Method: heat the oil in a deep soup/stock pot then add the garlic cloves and fry gently for around a minute. Add the onions red chilli and bay and fry for a further 3-4 minutes. Next add the celery, carrot and romano pepper and fry for a further 4 minutes. Add the spices and stir thoroughly so the spices coat the whole mixture, fry for a couple of minutes but take care not to burn the spices, loosen with a little water if the spices catch on the pan. Next add the tomatoes, sugar and herbs and stir thoroughly, fry for a further 3-4 minutes again add a little water if mixture catches on pan. Add the stock, a generous amount of black pepper but only a little salt – more can be added to finished soup. Bring to the boil then cover, reduce heat and simmer for around 30 minutes. After this remove from heat and carefully remove the lid, use a wooden spoon to remove the bay leaf (can be hard to find but is important!), then use a stick blender to blitz into a smooth soup. Taste for seasoning then ladle into bowls, dusting with a little finely chopped parsley as a garnish. You could also for extra refinement pass the soup through a sieve as an optional last step.

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Char Grilled Pepper and Butternut Squash Soup

Delicious, healthy spicy soup with grilled peppers, tomatoes and butternut squash

Soups are a speciality of mine and this is one of my best. A flavour base of garlic, red onion, white onion, carrot and chilli is fried in a little oil along with some spices. Mixed peppers are separately grilled to bring out their deep flavours. Butternut squash and tomatoes are added to the fried mixture, then the peppers, some stock and herbs.  After a short simmer the mixture is blended into a smooth delicious soup.

 

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Butternut squash and char grilled pepper soup

This recipe gives 4 large servings

Preparation 10-15 minutes

Cooking time 60 minutes

Ingredients

2 white onions – peeled roughly chopped

2 red onions – peeled roughly chopped

1 large red chilli – sliced (add extra if you want it hot!)

2 sticks celery – sliced

4-6 carrots – peeled, sliced

6 cloves garlic – peeled, crushed

1 large red bell pepper – deseeded, cut into chunks

1 large green bell pepper – deseeded, cut into chunks

1 butternut squash – peeled, deseeded, cut into small pieces

2 litres vegetable stock

3 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2-3 dessert spoons brown sugar (to taste)

1-2 teaspoons salt (to taste)

1 teaspoon crushed black pepper

6-8 basil leaves – retain 2 to thinly slice for garnish

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons olive oil

You require a hand blender, grill pan and a deep stock pot.

Get cooking

 

  1. Start by heating the grill pan, then add the peppers. Drizzle a little Olive oil over the peppers then grill, turning occasionally, for approx 10 minutes. You want the peppers to blacken and soften to bring out their deep flavours. Once cooked remove from the grill pan and set aside to add to soup later.
  2. Now heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the stock pot over a medium heat. Once hot add the garlic, chilli and bay leaf and fry them in the oil, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes to help flavour the oil.
  3. Next add the sliced celery, carrot, red onion and white onion. Keep on a medium heat and stir fry for 7-8 minutes until the mixture softens. Add a little extra olive oil if the mixture starts to stick to the pan- colour is fine but you do not want the flavour base to stick to bottom of pan and burn as this will be effect the flavour.
  4. Next add the butternut squash and the grilled peppers, stir well. Add  a teaspoon of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Stir and fry for a further 5 minutes.
  5. Then add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, half teaspoon ground coriander and half teaspoon dried oregano. Stir well and fry for 3-4 minutes. It is vital not to burn the spices so if the mixture sticks to pan add a little water to loosen it.
  6. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well and allow to cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
  7. Next add the stock and stir well – make sure you scape all the residue on the sides of the pan into the stock as they give flavour to the soup. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.
  8. After 30 minutes, remove lid and stir well. If you can remove the bay leafs, and scrape any residue on the pan sides back into the soup.
  9. Use a hand blender to form a smooth soup, alternatively transfer to a glass blender or food processor to do the same.
  10. Serve in large bowls and garnish with a little sliced basil leaf. Enjoy!

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