Cod & Vegetable Chowder

Serves 4

This week I like to share my recipe for a very tasty and nutritious chowder. The potatoes, vegetables and chunks of cod make it a rather filling soup and for us a perfect summer meal. I don’t use any cream or milk in this chowder, which makes it perfectly suitable for anyone who has lactose intolerance too. The combinations of ingredients makes it a very natural, healthy and flavorful dish, enjoy.

 Ingredients

2 tbsp.  butter

2 white onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 carrots (medium-sized), peeled & diced

2 potatoes (medium-sized), peeled & diced

2 red peppers, diced

500g fresh or frozen cod, boneless and skinless

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 L/4 cups vegetable or fish stock

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried thyme

3 bay leaves

salt

black pepper, coarsely ground

fresh leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

Melt the butter on medium heat in your stockpot. Sauté the onions and when they are about done add the garlic, ground cumin and dried thyme.  Once translucent add the diced carrots, potatoes and red peppers. Stir and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until lightly golden and soften.

In the meantime, lightly season the cod fillets with salt and black pepper and set aside.

Add the chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and stock to the diced vegetables. Stir, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Lay the cod fillets on top of the vegetables and cover the stockpot. Simmer for a few minutes until the fish is just cooked through. Before serving, remove the bay leaves, and season the soup with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into the bowls and place flakes of the cod on top of the soup.  Sprinkle the fresh leaf parsley and serve immediately.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Turkish Red Lentil Soup/Mercimek Çorbasi

Serves 4

Growing up in a family where soup is such an important and well-loved dish can be pretty hard if you are a ten year old and not that fond of soup. My dear son Duncan often comes running into the kitchen asking me ‘What’s for dinner?’ Before I can answer him he in general says ‘Again???’ So when he told me this soup was a winner and should definitely be in the top five, I was over the moon 🙂

This version of Turkish lentil soup is home cooking at its best: healthy, hearty, easy and scrumptious delicious.  I prefer to use (organic) red split lentils as they cook quicker than regular lentils. This soup is perfect to serve as a main meal by adding a piece of Turkish pide bread and a salad.

Ingredients

2 tbsp.  of olive oil

200g/1cup of red split lentils, washed and drained

1 red onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 large carrot, diced

1L of vegetable stock

1 tsp. of ground cumin

1 tsp. of ground paprika

Salt & black pepper

1 lemon, cut into wedges

2 tbsp. of tomato purée

Fresh mint for garnish

Preparation

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in your stockpot. Sauté the onion and when they are about done add the garlic, diced carrot, one teaspoon of ground cumin, one teaspoon of ground paprika and 2 tablespoons of tomato purée. Toss the ingredients until all ingredients are covered with the flavour of each item and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the washed and drained lentils, pour in your stock and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until the carrots and lentils are tender.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes. Place all but 3 cups of the soup into a blender or food processor and blend.  Return the pureed soup to your pan and stir in the reserved cups of soup.  Season to taste with salt and coarsely ground pepper.

Serve each bowl with a lemon wedge and garnish with fresh mint.

Bon Appetite 😉