Avocado Soup

Serves 6

Looking for a cool and refreshing summer soup? Then look no further. This velvety smooth and chilled soup is the perfect summer starter. It’s very easy and quick to prepare and allows you to store in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Ingredients

2 large ripe avocados

500 ml/2 cups Chicken stock or Vegetable Stock

Juice of one Red Grapefruit

1 clove of garlic, peeled

2 tbsp. of yoghurt

sea salt

black pepper, coarsely ground

mild chilli powder

Preparation

Cut the avocados in half lengthways and twist to separate into two. Remove the stone and with a spoon, scoop out all the flesh of the avocado.

Place the avocado flesh , chicken or vegetable stock, crushed garlic, grapefruit juice and yoghurt into the blender or food processor.

Purée until smooth, taste and season with salt, black pepper and mild chilli powder.

Refrigerator for a minimum of two hours. Serve chilled and with a colorful garnish on top.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Miso Soup

It’s Miso time! Being surrounded by wonderful Japanese friends, I have been inspired to cook many different Japanese dishes. Soup is one of the vital components of a Japanese meal and is served with nearly every meal in the day.  I have been over the moon with Miso soup: so easy to prepare and so versatile. It has a rich taste and great nutritional benefits.

If you will visit your local Asian/Japanese store, you will be able to find many different types of Miso. White miso, red miso and a blended type of miso. The darker the colour, the longer the fermentation process, the stronger the taste will be. My favourite is the white miso which has a light and slightly sweet taste.

To make miso soup you will be needing dashi as well. Dashi is a very popular basic stock which is used in many different Japanese recipes. Dashi  is often made of seaweed, vegetables and fish flakes and sold in jars or sachets. If you like to avoid fish in your miso, you can buy a vegan dashi.

Today I would like to start with the traditional miso soup, which has been a favourite in Japan for many centuries. Next week will move on to a more rich and hearty miso and hope you will join the miso experience!

Ingredients

1 L  Dashi  Stock

3 tbsp.  White Miso

½ block of firm Tofu, diced

2 Spring Onions, finely sliced

1 tbsp. Wakame (dried seaweed)

Preparation

Soak 1 tablespoon of Wakame in cold water and let it soak for 4-6 minutes. Heat 1 liter of water in a pot and add the dashi granules/powder. Bring the dashi stock to boil.

Once boiling reduce the heat, add the diced tofu and drained wakame and simmer for a few minutes on low heat.

Scoop out one large ladle of soup and dissolve 3 tablespoons of miso in it by whisking it to a smooth consistency.  If you try to dissolve the miso in the soup directly, it might clump together.

Once the miso is dissolved return it to the broth and simmer for a few minutes. Be careful not to boil the soup after adding the miso: it can become gritty, kills the aroma and some say, healthful enzymes.

Top with a sprinkling of spring onions and serve hot or cold.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Broccoli & Stilton Soup

Serves 6-8

Indulge yourself with this delicious Broccoli and Stilton soup. As some of you may know by now, I love to cook delicious yet healthy and low-fat soups. This soup does not qualify for the lowest in fat ever but the calories are definitely worth it! The Stilton cheese gives the soup such a rich flavour but is not overpowering and somehow brings out the best of the broccoli too. If you can’t find Stilton cheese, free to buy another blue cheese instead.

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 white onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

2 heads of broccoli, about 600g, roughly chopped

4 sticks of celery, peeled and cut into small pieces

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

1.5 L vegetable stock

1 tsp of dried thyme

150g Stilton cheese (blue cheese), crumbled

Preparation

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in your stockpot. Sauté the onions and when they are about done add the garlic and the teaspoon of dried thyme.  Once translucent add the roughly chopped broccoli, celery pieces and diced potato. Stir gently, then cover with a lid and allow to sweat for 5 – 10 minutes.

Pour in your stock and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes. Then purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot or puree in batches in your blender.

Return the soup to a clean pan and stir in the crumbled Stilton cheese. I like to serve the soup when the cheese has not completely dissolved yet but if you do, you can always use a hand blender for a few seconds.

Season the soup with some freshly ground pepper and serve with a warm and crusty piece of bread.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Leek Soup

Serves 4-6

I was so happy when I received an email from a fellow soup fan from The Netherlands. Sandra’s recipe for Leek Soup truly deserves a prize! This soup is so easy to make, healthy, low in fat, simple and delicious. You will be done in no time. Raised in Singapore, Sandra loves to use red chili peppers in this soup. I use one chili pepper as it enriches without overwhelming the soup.  If you would like it to be more spicy, then you may want to use two or three peppers. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tbsp. of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 leeks (medium size), cut into pieces, washed and drained

1 red chili pepper, finely chopped

1.2 L vegetable or beef stock

60g/3 tbsp. of ‘Boursin light’ or any other reduced fat soft cheese with garlic and herbs

 

Preparation

To prepare the leeks, cut off the dark green parts and trim off the little beards at the bottom. Cut the leek into pieces and wash them in water to remove the grit. Once done, drain well.

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in your frying pan. Sauté the garlic with the red chili pepper for approximately 3 minutes. Add the leeks and allow them to ‘sweat’ over pretty low heat until they get soft, but not browned.

Heat the vegetable or beef stock in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and toss the sautéed leeks, garlic and chili pepper into the stock.  Simmer for approximately 15 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes.  Add the 3 tbsp. of Boursin (soft cheese) to the soup and purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot.

When ready to serve, bring back to a simmer and ladle in to bowls. If you like, garnish with some homemade  croutons.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Portuguese Vegetable Soup

Serves 6-8

While visiting my dear friend Beatriz the other day, she served this delicious soup as a starter for a lovely luncheon. This soup has a beautiful subtle flavour and you do not realise that you are consuming such a large number of vegetables.  It has a nice creamy texture, but it actually does not contain any cream in the ingredients.  This soup is perfect for all age groups as it does not have an overwhelming vegetable flavor – so the children will not protest.   Great for lunch or a light dinner as it is very satisfying, especially with a piece of crusty farm bread.

 

Ingredients

2L of water or vegetable stock

1 white onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic

400g of carrots, roughly chopped

200g of butternut squash, roughly chopped

1 leek, roughly chopped

2 small potatoes, diced

2 small turnips, diced

1 courgette/zucchini, sliced

200g of  canned chick peas, washed and drained

Salt & black pepper, to taste

2 tbs. Olive oil

4 handfuls of spinach

Preparation

Fill your stockpot with 2L of water or stock and bring to a boil. Dice all the vegetables, except the spinach and chick peas.

Add the onion, garlic, carrots, butternut squash, potatoes, turnips, courgette and chickpeas to the boiling water. Keep the spinach aside. Add the olive oil and some salt.

Once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots are very tender (as in general all the other veggies are done too).

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes. In the meantime cook the spinach separately for a few minutes, then drain and set aside while blending all the other ingredients.

Return the soup to a clean pan and season to taste with salt and black pepper.  If you like the soup slightly thinner you could add a bit more water or vegetable stock.

When ready to serve, bring back to a simmer, mix in the spinach and ladle in to bowls. Serve with a crusty piece of farm bread.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Corn Chowder

Serves 6 people

The American Corn Chowder has a history that is centuries old. It was considered to be ‘poor man’s food’ as so many soups were. In general chowders are rich, creamy/milky soups full of all sorts of ingredients. You can adapt chowders so easily. If you like to serve it as a meal instead of a starter, you can add all sorts of things: some fresh fish, smoked fish, crab meat or chicken. Today I made a vegetarian version and used a vegetable stock but feel free to use chicken stock or any stock you like. Make this corn chowder your own and you will soon agree that this belongs into the top ten of true comfort foods.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. of butter or olive oil

1 large red onion, finely chopped

2 carrots (medium size), cut into slices

2 potatoes (medium size), diced

1 red pepper, diced

650g (4 cups) of fresh or frozen corn

½ tsp. of thyme

½ tsp. of rosemary

500mL (2 cups) of vegetable stock

750mL (3 cups) of milk

salt & pepper

For the garnish:

3 tbsp. of fresh chopped parsley

3 tbsp. of fresh chopped chives

100g of grated Cheddar cheese

Crusty farm bread

Preparation

For this soup it is best to use a wide but not very deep pan. A casserole type would be ideal. Heat the butter on medium heat. Add the red onion and gently fry without coloring for about 10 minutes or until softened.

Then add the carrots, red pepper and diced potatoes. Season the veggies with thyme, rosemary and salt. Cover the ingredients and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes, again gently fry without coloring..

Pour in your milk, vegetable stock and corn. Bring to boil and once boiling reduce the heat, simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Turn off the heat and puree half of the vegetables in a blender. Then stir the puree back into the soup and bring back to boil.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with some grated -extra sharp- cheddar cheese, chopped chives and/or parsley and a nice piece of crusty farm bread.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6-8 people

A few weeks ago, a fellow Dutch lady, named Marion, sent me her favorite recipe of her version of Thai Pumpkin Soup to share with all of you. It really looked delicious and the ingredients are so exotic. Being in the midst of winter, I really needed some sunshine in a bowl and I was more than ready to give it a try.  There was only one problem: pumpkin season was long gone and there were no pumpkins in sight.  As patience is not my biggest virtue, I figured why not give it a go with a butternut squash? I took Marion’s recipe as my inspiration and am truly happy with the result. So if you feel that you could use some sunshine too, then by all means: go for it!

Ingredients

1 Butternut Squash, diced into 1 inch cubes

½ Celeriac, diced into 1 inch cubes

2 tbsp. of Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

750ml of vegetable stock

800ml of  (reduced fat) Coconut Milk

2 stalks of Lemongrass, each cut into 3 pieces

1 ½ tbsp. of fresh Ginger, chopped

1 ½ tbsp. of Red Thai Curry Paste

6 dried Lime Leaves

Salt

Fresh Cilantro/Coriander for garnish

Preparation

The easiest way to make this soup is to start by cutting up all the ingredients. Once you are done cutting, you will find that this recipe is very straightforward and easy to make.

Peel and dice the butternut squash, as well as ½ of the Celeriac, into 1 inch cubes. If you have difficulties with peeling and dicing the butternut squash than please, take a look at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_peel_and_cut_a_butternut_squash/

Heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and red onion and gently fry without coloring until softened. Then add the cubes of celeriac and butternut squash, stir for a minute or two. Now add the stock and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce the heat, add the coconut milk, the lemongrass, the freshly chopped ginger, the curry paste and lime leaves.  Simmer for about 25 minutes or until the celeriac and squash are tender.

Now allow the soup to cool off for a minute. Before you blend it into a smooth soup, please remove the lime leaves and lemongrass as they have done their job. Carefully transfer all the ingredients into your blender or use a handheld blender to cream the soup.

Taste your soup and season with lime juice, possibly some salt and if you like the soup a bit spicier, you could add a bit more of curry paste as well.

Before serving, reheat the soup, ladle into bowls and sprinkle some fresh cilantro/coriander on top.

Bon Appetite 😉

Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower Soup

Serves 6

Yes, you can! Maria’s favorite recipe is very easy to prepare and can be made within 30 minutes. The soup is very tasty: creamy without any dairy and very healthy. The only downside is the smell while cooking, but the cauliflower sure makes up in nutrients. Make sure you don’t overcook, to keep most of the vegetable’s vitamins. Go for an organic cauliflower with white heads, and crisp green leaves. The whiter, the fresher.

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower

1,5L chicken or beef or vegetable stock

salt

pepper

truffle oil

croutons

Preparation

Cut off the individual florets from the central stem of the cauliflower and cut again if necessary. The florets should be of the same size, so they all cook evenly.  Steam or cook the cauliflower in 5-10 minutes. During cooking or steaming you can test with the tip of a knife to make sure they don’t overcook.

Purée the cauliflower in a food processor or with a blender. Slowly pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, and return to a simmer.

Pretty it up with a swirl of truffle oil and scatter the croutons on top. Serve the soup immediately.

Bon Appetite 😉

My Favorite Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

Serves 6-8 people

Now winter has arrived nothing beats a great minestrone which I love to serve as a meal in a bowl instead of a soup. It is so healthy, has a great flavor and is wonderful for the whole family to enjoy or even better the whole family and friends 🙂 I like the minestrone soup as it is, quite thick, but if you prefer it a bit more ‘soupy’ than you could add some more stock.

Ingredients

5 tbsp. of olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 red onions, finely chopped

3 sticks of celery, finely chopped

3 carrots, finely diced

1 courgette/zucchini, finely diced

150gr  runner beans, finely diced

1 can/400g of butter beans

2 cans/800gr of chopped tomatoes

90gr of fresh basil: stalks finely chopped and leaves chopped

250gr fresh spinach & ricotta tortellini

1 piece of parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp.  salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1L vegetable stock

Preparation

For this soup it is best to use a wide but not very deep pan. A casserole type would be ideal. Heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the garlic, red onions and celery and gently fry without coloring for about 10 minutes or until softened.

Then add the carrots, runner beans and basil stalks. Cover the ingredients and stir occasionally for about 15 minutes, again gently fry without coloring. Add the cans of chopped tomatoes and courgette/zucchini and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Pour in you vegetable stock, butter beans and tortellini and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce the heat, season with salt and pepper and simmer for about 10 minutes  or until the tortellini are tender.

Serve the minestrone in big bowls with chopped basil,  shaved Parmesan cheese and some ciabatta bread on the side.

Bon Appetite 😉

PS. Graham’s tip: add the rind of the Parmesan cheese into the soup whilst cooking, it adds a super flavor.

Jane’s Butternut Squash and Lime Soup

Jane’s Butternut Squash and Lime Soup

Serves 6 people

When I was visiting our dear piano teacher and neighbor, Jane, the other day, I found out that she can cook too! This gorgeous recipe is so tasty and in a way quite impressive yet easy to prepare, just the way we like it. Give it a go and tell me if you share my enthusiasm.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash  (0r 4 bags pre-cut)

2 limes finely grated, zest and juice

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1 white onion diced

2 tbsp of clear honey

¼  tsp.  of (fresh) thyme

½  tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp. salt

¼  tsp. black pepper

200ml half fat crème fraîche

750ml vegetable stock

2 sprigs fresh parsley

40gr flaked almonds

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Peel and dice the butternut into 1 inch cubes. If you have difficulties with peeling and dicing the butternut squash than please, take a look at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_peel_and_cut_a_butternut_squash/ and you will never struggle again ;-)!

Peel and chop the onion and cloves of garlic and place into a large roasting tray together with the squash. Drizzle the olive oil and honey on top and finish off with sprinkling the thyme. Roast for about 25 minutes or until tender and slightly brown.

Once done, take out your roasting tray and pour in your stock. Leave for a minute and carefully transfer all the ingredients and stock to your stockpot leaving nothing behind.  Now, add the crème fraîche and the grated, zest and juice of the limes. Then purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot or puree in batches in your blender. Taste your soup and season with salt and pepper.

Before serving bake the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan until they are golden brown.  Serve  with a spoonful of crème fraîche and some flaked almonds.

Bon Appetite 😉