A quick look through our recipe index and you’ll know we both love soup. It really is the perfect hot lunch on cold days and you’ll find our freezers full of prep-ahead portions. I also love the fact that you can hide lots of vegetables and pulses in soup, ideal when feeding children. We experiment with flavour combinations and soup can be the perfect vehicle for doing this, if it tastes good in soup you know you’re on to a winner. We do struggle to write recipes for soup, as often the best soup is made with what happens to be lying around and veg that’s seen better days. The soup’s we’ve given here contain grains and pulses making them more suitable to a meal in their own right, rather than as a starter.
thai sweet potato, lentil and coconut soup
Print recipe
| Serves | 3-4 |
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tsp red thai curry paste
- 1 Small onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 " piece ginger (finely chopped)
- 1 lime leaf (finely shredded)
- 1 sweet potato (chopped)
- 120g red split lentils
- 1 L vegetable stock
- 200ml coconut milk
- salt & black pepper
- 1/4 Tsp fish sauce
Directions
| In a saucepan, fry the onion gently till just softened. Add the thai red curry paste and fry quickly for 1 minute. Then add the garlic, ginger, lime leaf and continue to fry for another minute. | |
| Add the lentils and sweet potato and coat in the sauce for 1 minute. Then and stock and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the lentils are cooked down. | |
| Puree with a hand blender and add the coconut milk. Season to taste with salt, pepper and the fish sauce. | |
| Serve with crusty bread or naan breads. | |
Note
This recipe also works well with a hint of chilli added. It can also be doubled to make a larger batch and frozen for another meal.
leek & barley broth
| Serves | 4-6 |
Ingredients
- 4 leeks (sliced)
- 1 onion (diced)
- 2 carrots (sliced)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 75g pearl barley (washed and drained)
- 400g tin plum tomatoes
- 1l vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 2 bay leaves
- 400g tins butter beans (washed and drained)
- salt & pepper
Directions
| Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the leeks, onion and carrot to the pan, together with a pinch of salt and saute gently for 5 minutes to soften but not to colour. | |
| Add the tomatoes, barley, stock, herbs, bay leaf, salt and pepper, stir well. Bring to the boil, then lower heat and simmer gently for 50 minutes or until the barley is cooked. | |
| Remove the bay leaves and add the butter beans. Heat up and serve. | |
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