When you have a broken wrist, cooking becomes very difficult. Even though the cast is now off, I can’t lift heavy pans, unscrew jars, chop with any proficiency.
I’ve been making soups, using my Vitamix blender. For soup, it doesn’t matter that your vegetables is unevenly cut. Plus this winter has felt colder than usual, so it is soup season anyway.
Here are a few recipes I’ve developed:
Carrot and preserved lemon soup
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- Carrot and preserved lemon soup
Carrot and Preserved Lemon Soup
A twist on the usual carrot soups. I wrote a book filled with carrot recipes, so I'm a fan.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 kilo carrots, topped, tailed, peeled
- 3 tsps olive oil
- salt
- 2 tbsp veg stock powder plus 2 litres water
- 1 tbsp cornflour, dissolved in a little soup stock, optional
- 1 tsp cumin, ground
- 1 tsp coriander, ground
- 2 whole preserved lemons, sliced
- pot Natural or Greek yoghurt, for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the peeled carrots in a baking tray with olive oil and salt.
- Roast the carrots for 30 minutes.
- Make vegetable stock in a deep saucepan by mixing the stock powder/cubes with 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil.
- If you like a thicker soup, make a little slurry of cornflour and water or soup stock and add to the stock.
- Remove the carrots from the oven, let cool till easy to handle then add to a blender, along with the oil in the pan. Add the soup stock, ground coriander and cumin. Blend until smooth. Add the preserved lemons, reserving a little for garnishing, and blend.
- Return the contents of the blender to the saucepan and heat gently.
- Serve hot in bowls with a scoop of yoghurt and a small slice of preserved lemon.
Cauliflower Cheese Soup
Cauliflower cheese soup
Cauliflower Cheese Soup
A soup version of the bake.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 whole cauliflower, broken into florets
- 3 cloves garlic, whole, unpeeled
- sprinkle salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsps vegetable soup stock plus 2 litres water
- big pinch nutmeg
- 1 potato, peeled
- 150 g cheddar cheese
Instructions
- preheat the oven to 180C. Put the cauliflower florets on a baking tray and toss in the olive oil and salt. Add the whole garlic cloves. Bake for 25 minutes
- Using a deep saucepan , add the stock powder and water and bring to boil. Add the potato cubes and nutmeg. Cook until the potato is tender.
- Remove from the oven. Let cook, until you can easily handle the garlic cloves.
- Squeeze the roasted garlic into the soup stock then add the cauliflower florets plus the oil they roasted in.
- Add all the contents of the pan to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Return the contents of the blender to the pan, heat until warm enough to eat. Add the cheddar cheese.
- Serve hot.
Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash soup bowls on an aga oven
Butternut Squash Soup
Hearty, warming comfort.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, cut into chunks
- 150 ml olive oil, for roasting the squash and frying the onions
- big sprinkle salt
- 2 brown onions, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tbsps smoked paprika powder
- 2 tbsps veg stock and 2 litres water
- 400 ml yoghurt or skyr, for garnish
- 1 small red chilli, finely sliced for garnish
- handful pumpkin seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 180C. Roast the butternut squash tossed in the olive oil and salt for 30 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the squash.
- Fry the onion with the bay leaves gently in olive oil until soft, then add the garlic. Add the paprika and stir.
- Add the soup stock and water, bring to the boil.
- Remove the squash from the oven. Add to the saucepan, along with the cooking oils. Simmer for a few minutes then transfer to a blender.
- Blender until smooth then transfer back to the saucepan. Check the seasoning.
- Serve hot with a scoop of yoghurt, skyr, a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds and a few slices of chilli if desired.
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