Soup Season

The winter months are upon us! I find myself wanting to just eat cozy and comforting foods and soup is one of my favourite things to make when it starts to get a bit colder.

The formula I follow is: Chop - Roast - Blend - Season. If you have a good hand blender, or better yet a glass blender that can blend hot liquids, it makes the process far less time consuming. I used to blend soups in portions in my tiny NutriBullet and it took absolutely ages!

It's a great way to get your vitamins in, and paired with a comforting toastie, bit of sourdough or just cheese on crackers, it's a fab staple to prep in winter. Easy to freeze and warm up at work, I recommend adding a couple of these to your cooking rotation!

1. 1Butternut Squash Soup
2. 2Dumpling Soup

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Butternut Squash Soup

My absolute favourite soup base! Butternut sqash is jam-packed full of nutrients and vitamins and is low in calories.

Full of vitamin C, B9, magnesium, potassium and carotenoids (your body converts these into the active form of vitamin A which is essential for cell growth, eye and bone health and immune function), it makes for a creamy soup that can easily be paired with other veg and proteins to make it satiating and nourishing.

Method:

1. I always start by cutting the squash into quarters (skin on for fibre) and scooping out the seeds. Lightly cover with oil and bake for about 45 mins to an hour (turning half way through) on 170C until soft and tender.

   • You can pair this with any (or all!) of the following veg along with onion and garlic. All can go into roasting pan with the squash. Now these are just the ones I've tried, but there's no reason you can't experiment:

   • Carrot

   • Red pepper

   • Tomato

   • Spinach

2. Add however much liquid you want whilst blending to achieve your desired consistency depending on if you prefer it thicker or thinner

3. Add a protein of your choice to make it a complete meal and top with seeds/croutons/herbs
   

Squash and red pepper soup topped with spelt croutons

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Dumpling Soup

This is such warming dish thanks to the addition of ginger in the broth. You can honestly use any veg that you have in the fridge for this, the below is just what I had on hand that day.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a leek

  • A good source of carotenoids including beta-carotene. Your body converts these into the active form of vitamin A which is essential for cell growth, eye and bone health and immune function

  • Good source of vitamin K which is necessary for blood clotting

  • Great source of kaempferol, a potent antioxidant that can protect against heart disease

• 2 tenderstem broccoli shoots

• 1 large flat white mushroom

• 5 dumplings (I use the frozen ones from my local Chinese supermarket)

• Spoonful of kimchi

• Homemade garlic and ginger paste

• Bone broth powder

  • I always use this one from Honest + Good

Method:

1. Chop the veg as small as possible and sautee until soft

2. Add in the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant

3. Add however much water you want for your soup base along with the bone broth (if using)

4. Add your desired amount of kimchi

5. If the dumplings are frozen, you can defrost beforehand for quicker prep or add them as frozen into the pan and cook the soup for longer

Such a comfort food on a chilly night!