Get your Greens Super Soup

My energy levels are still non-existent, it is unusual to have this last as long, I am not sure what is going on.  It is time for super soup, packed full of wonderful nutritious green vegetables and zingy seasoning it is a sure fire pick me up!

The beauty of this soup is it always tastes great! Whatever vegetables you decide to use it consistently produces a taste sensation.. honest! We first tried this soup many years ago when we stayed for dinner with my Grandad and Gran. I remember both my children looking at their bowls with contempt and suspicion. Surprise lit up their faces from the first spoonful and my son even asked for more! For many years this was my vegetable delivery method!

I make a large batch, freezing some of it in individual sized tubs and keeping a large tub in the fridge.

You will need a big soup pan and a stick blender. You can blend with a jug blender or food processor it will just take more time to do it all in batches. If you don’t have a really large pan then cut the ingredients list in half. You don’t need to chop everything very small as it will all be blended at the end.

The vegetables I have written here are the ones used in this latest batch of soup. You can change anything you want and still get a great tasting soup with those spices. Use brussel sprouts, kale, spinach, cabbage, peas, courgette or try leak instead of onion. I like to add carrots as they add a little sweetness to the soup.

3 small/med or 2 large heads of broccoli

 

1 large head of cauliflower

 

1 large onion

 

4/5 carrots

 

2 tins green beans ( or use fresh or frozen )

 

1 or 2 cups of lentils ( split peas or chick peas are also good )

 

Stock, I like to use a mixture of vegetable and chicken stock 2/3 of each

 

We enjoy spicy food. While eating a healthy and low calorie diet I found I became very bored very quickly with many of the choices. Spicing things up made the food more interesting and cut down my cravings for bad but flavoursome foods. These spices make for a potent but not too hot soup.

Cut down the amounts is you want a mild result, leave out some if you want but make sure you use plenty turmeric and cumin as they both have powerful health benefits. They are not overpowering flavours.

 

Now the spices are..

I use 1 or 2 heaped teaspoons of a mild/medium curry powder

 

Ground Turmeric, 2/3 heaped teaspoons

I like to use a lot of turmeric as it has so many health benefits and is an especially good anti-inflammitory

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78

 

Ground Cumin, 2-3 heaped teaspoons

Cumin also has great health benefits

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=91

 

Ground Paprika 1 teaspoon

 

Ground Coriander 1 teaspoon

 

A little black pepper

 

½ teaspoon of ground ginger if wanted.

 

Method:

Rinse the lentils and then leave in a bowl covered with water. Sometimes I will prepare the lentils a few hours in advance. I used red lentils this time as that was all I had in my cupboard, they only need a rinse and are ready to add. Large lentils and split peas definitely need soaking in advance.

 

 

Boil the kettle and make up the stock in a jug. Add in the spices

 

 

Cut your broccoli and cauliflower into florets and wash them, pop them in the pan.

 

 

Cut your onion and add to the pan

 

 

Open and drain the green beans, add to the pan.

 

 

Either scrub and chop the carrots or peel and chop them. I like to microwave the carrots as they take longer to cook than the rest of the veg so this gives them a head start. Place them in a microwave safe container with just a little water and cook on high for 5 mins. Then add to the pan.

 

 

Drain the lentils and add to the pan.

 

 

Add the stock and extra water so the vegetables are covered. Don’t worry if they stick out the top a bit, they will soon break down into the soup.

 

 

Bring to the boil and then simmer.

 

 

As the vegetables break down they quickly sink into a thick mass at the bottom of the pan, stir often to avoid burnt soup.

 

Replace the water as it evaporates

 

When everything is soft and broken down turn off the heat and blend till smooth.

 

Optional:  My granddad always serves this with mini pasta shapes in it. It doesn’t sound like it would go together very well but it does. However do not add it into the big batch to keep for another day. Make the pasta fresh to add to the re-heated soup otherwise it takes horrible and slimy! Children especially enjoy having it with the pasta in it and it is easy to find cute shapes to make it fun.

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