Two good soups today that you might find useful and tasty in these stressful times. The sweet potato soup is a tasty combination of flavours and one that children can easily help with. You could also use carrots, or butternut squash. Ginger adds a wonderful warm flavour to this soup. And, as I always say, when you buy ginger, peel it and wrap in clingfilm and freeze for future use. If you don’t have chilli you could use some chilli flakes. They are always handy to keep in the house. But be careful as they can be very hot.
I often make this hearty “winter” vegetable soup at home all year round. This is a good one for batch cooking as it will keep for four of five days. If I have some chicken left over I will shred it into it.
We call this soup a “hug in a bowl” and I think we need that right now.
Happy cooking,
Neven
Sweet potato soup with ginger and coconut
Serves four
1 lb sweet potato, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion
1 leek, finely diced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
½ red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
2 pints chicken stock
250ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 tablespoons basil leaves, torn
1 Preheat oven to 200°C/gas mark 6, put the sweet potatoes in a baking tray, drizzle with some sunflower oil and roast in oven until tender, about 20 minutes.2 Put remaining oil in saucepan, heat, add onion, leeks, ginger, and chili. Sweat for 4 minutes. Add the stock and tomato puree. Bring to the boil and simmer. Add coconut milk and cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste. Hand blend until smooth. Ladle into warm bowl, scatter with torn basil leaves and serve.Hearty winter vegetable soup with barley
Serves four
4oz each of mixed vegetables (onion, leek, carrots, turnips, parsnips and celery)
2oz butter or margarine
2oz flour
4pts chicken stock
Salt and pepper
2oz barley (washed)
250ml milk or cream
Croutons and chopped scallion, to serve
1 Place the barley in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil and simmer until cooked.
2 Gently sweat the vegetables in butter or margarine.
3 Remove from the heat. Mix in the flour. Return to a low heat and cook out for a few minutes.
4 Gradually add the hot stock. Stir well. Bring to the boil. Season to taste and add cream or milk. Then finally stir in cooked barley. Serve with croutons, chopped scallions and crusty bread. Enjoy.
If you aren’t using your clothespegs for wet laundry right now, they make great clips to keep open packages closed. With our pantries so full, we may be attracting pests like mice with any open bags of grain (like the barley in Neven’s recipe). You can use a clothespeg or even a large plastic band to keep your food safe from pests and from spoiling.
Two good soups today that you might find useful and tasty in these stressful times. The sweet potato soup is a tasty combination of flavours and one that children can easily help with. You could also use carrots, or butternut squash. Ginger adds a wonderful warm flavour to this soup. And, as I always say, when you buy ginger, peel it and wrap in clingfilm and freeze for future use. If you don’t have chilli you could use some chilli flakes. They are always handy to keep in the house. But be careful as they can be very hot.
I often make this hearty “winter” vegetable soup at home all year round. This is a good one for batch cooking as it will keep for four of five days. If I have some chicken left over I will shred it into it.
We call this soup a “hug in a bowl” and I think we need that right now.
Happy cooking,
Neven
Sweet potato soup with ginger and coconut
Serves four
1 lb sweet potato, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion
1 leek, finely diced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
½ red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
2 pints chicken stock
250ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 tablespoons basil leaves, torn
1 Preheat oven to 200°C/gas mark 6, put the sweet potatoes in a baking tray, drizzle with some sunflower oil and roast in oven until tender, about 20 minutes.2 Put remaining oil in saucepan, heat, add onion, leeks, ginger, and chili. Sweat for 4 minutes. Add the stock and tomato puree. Bring to the boil and simmer. Add coconut milk and cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste. Hand blend until smooth. Ladle into warm bowl, scatter with torn basil leaves and serve.Hearty winter vegetable soup with barley
Serves four
4oz each of mixed vegetables (onion, leek, carrots, turnips, parsnips and celery)
2oz butter or margarine
2oz flour
4pts chicken stock
Salt and pepper
2oz barley (washed)
250ml milk or cream
Croutons and chopped scallion, to serve
1 Place the barley in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil and simmer until cooked.
2 Gently sweat the vegetables in butter or margarine.
3 Remove from the heat. Mix in the flour. Return to a low heat and cook out for a few minutes.
4 Gradually add the hot stock. Stir well. Bring to the boil. Season to taste and add cream or milk. Then finally stir in cooked barley. Serve with croutons, chopped scallions and crusty bread. Enjoy.
If you aren’t using your clothespegs for wet laundry right now, they make great clips to keep open packages closed. With our pantries so full, we may be attracting pests like mice with any open bags of grain (like the barley in Neven’s recipe). You can use a clothespeg or even a large plastic band to keep your food safe from pests and from spoiling.
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