Carrot, Beetroot and Lentil Soup

During the autumn and winter months, you will find me making soup at least a couple of times a month. It is one of the easiest things in the world to make and if you are on a budget, it is cheap, wholesome and a filling meal.

The pre-made soup market is booming, but unfortunately many of our favourite brands are chock-full of salt, sugar, fillers and preservatives that are not required by our bodies. They are also expensive. but not as expensive as buying soups from the plethora of sandwich chains that provide a large majority of the working population with our lunch.

Homemade soups are, in my opinion, much tastier and higher in nutritional value. Not only are they significantly cheaper, the other bonus is that you can include whatever ingredients you like as well as make it the consistency you like. Take me, I’m not a lover of liquidised soups, preferring chunky soups that are filling. I prefer to have something that fills my soul rather than leave me hungry. The added bonus being that I avoid the de rigueur slab of bread as I don’t need anything else to fill me up.

Transportation and storage:

• Soup can keep in a saucepan on the hob for a few days, without needing refrigeration (assuming you live in a colder climate such as the UK)
• Re-heating: warm soup in a smaller saucepan rather than re-heating the whole thing. This preserves the nutrients in the soup and also helps with your energy bills.
• Avoid boiling soup as this damages the nutrients and microwaving; nuking soup renders it unrecognisable as food by the body.
• Use a thermos to transport soup – it keeps it warm for hours and removes the re-heating requirement or the need for a bowl if you’re caught short.

Last week, I made a delicious carrot, beetroot & lentil soup which came about from the basic need to use up these root vegetables that were left over from the previous week. I wanted to share it with you all as not only is it super-filling, it is ridiculously easy to make.

1 bunch of carrots (about 8 medium)

1 bunch of beetroot (about 6)

1 cup puy green or red lentils

1 onion

1 litre of chicken stock – either fresh or marigold stock cube

Method:

Chop the onions and gently cook in some olive oil.

Scrub, top and tail and chop carrots and beetroot; add to the onions.

Cook at a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly

Add lentils to the vegetables and pour the stock over the vegetables. The stock ought to reach a third higher than the vegetables. If not, then just add some more water.

Bring the soup to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Check the vegetables, if they are soft then the soup is ready, if not simmer for 10 minutes longer or until soft to the touch. If you are not eating immediately, you can always turn the heat off and leave the vegetables to cook in the hot liquor without heat.

This bit is up to you – you can either liquidise the soup, mash it to squish the vegetables but retain the lentils or leave as is, like I have.

If the lentils soak up the liquid exponentially, then just add some more water.

Key Nutritional Benefits:

• Carrot and beetroot are abundant in beta-carotenes, the red/yellow/orange anti-oxidants tha are especially good in helping ward off colds.
• Lentils provide B vitamins that are fantastic for energy, immune health and mental clarity. They contain fibre to help keep you regular and bind with toxins and waste products from the body for elimination. Lentils also contain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, a source of which is very important for those following a vegetarian and vegan diet.

Image by Nick Saltmarsh

Roast-a-licious

Hands up who likes the cold wintery days as an excuse to dive into the typical British fare of roasts and puddings?? I had a fabulous Sunday roast cooked for me last night and shared with some of my nearest and dearest, the perfect end to a great week. We were discussing the pros and cons of a roast dinner so

I thought it would be a perfect blog post for all those who view the roast as a treat rather than a healthy option.

Roasts: The Low-Down

Roasts per se are not actually that unhealthy. It is the amount of food, the origins of the meat and the way some of the foods have been cooked that are the issues around the concept – and are issues not dissimilar to any other meal that you may be preparing.

1. Meat: Preferably from animals who haven’t been kept in a dark shed with a million of it’s brothers and sisters, fed on a diet of animal feed, antibiotics and excrement is the most important ingredient. If you can’t afford to buy organic or don’t have access to a butcher such as Northfield Farm who sell meat that is organic in spirit but not certified due to specific slaughtering rules then the best choice of meat is Lamb. Sheep can not be reared inside so are naturally free range. Any chicken you buy should be free range, at least – and yes, chickens are expensive, but you can do so much with them they are worth their weight in gold.
2. Potatoes: these very addictive bundles of starch are very high in carbohydrates and apart from containing some chromium, th ey are not exactly the healthiest vegetable on the block. Especially if you peel them which removes 90& of their fibre and roast them in tons of fat. Swop for sweet potatoes or ration yourself to two only.
3. Roast parsnips: these beauties are also very high in starch and soak up oil very easily. The burnt bit, however tasty is the least nutritious part of the vegetable. Burning food produces chemicals called acrylamides which have been linked to an increased cancer risk.
4. Green veg: Brussel sprouts and cabbage, the mainstay of a british roast are possibly the antidote to the burnt ends of parsnips. They contain high levels of anti-oxidants which are crucial for keeping our bodies healthy. Ideally not dripping in butter, of course, but the more greens you have on your plate, the better.
5. Portion size: As with any meal, be aware of portion control. If we have eyes that are too big for our belly (aka yours truly), try using a smaller sized plate, having two slices of meat rather than four, and fill up half of your plate with vegetables, of the colourful variety, not the starchy ones.

Pudding

I have to admit, I am the first to go weak at the knees when there is a crumble on offer, however, this time it was me who made it. I’d had some plums in the freezer for a couple of months, just waiting for the opportunity to make them into a crumble, one of my signature desserts, and childhood comfort foods.

Not having made a plum crumble before, as I’m usually a traditional apple, raisins and cinnamon girl, I had to resort to our www best friend Google to throw up a selection of recipes to choose from. My personal food hero, Nigel Slater, sorry, Sir Nigel, popped up as the first entry and of course I made a beeline for his recipe ignoring all others. And my, what a crumble it was.

Fruit crumbles, as with fruit pies always ask for lots of sugar, butter and flour, not exactly ‘nutritious fayre’; however, Nige scored some real brownie points with me as he includes both ground almonds (protein) and oats (fibre) in his crumble topping to slightly recompense the high carbohydrate and sugar content.

Nigel Slater’s Oat Plum Crumble

I swapped the ordinary flour for spelt flour and accidentally added a few more almonds and oats to the crumble than strictly necessary, but even the biggest nutritional nay-sayer in the group was wowed by my efforts.

plums or damsons -  750g
golden caster sugar – 4 tablespoons
a large knob of butter

for the crust:
flour – 150g
butter – 100g
ground almonds – 50g
golden caster sugar -70g
rolled oats – 50g

Set the oven at 190˚/Gas 5.

Stone the fruit, though you will probably want to avoid stoning damsons. Put them into a deep pan with the butter and sugar and leave them to soften slightly. This will ensure they are meltingly soft and squishy.

Meanwhile, make the oat crust by rubbing the butter into the flour till it resembles fresh breadcrumbs. Stir in the ground almonds, the demerara sugar and the oats.

Pile the fruit into a baking dish, the tip the oat and almond topping onto the fruit and bake for 30-35 minutes till the crust is crisp and golden, the fruit soft and tender.

Serve hot, with cream, ice cream or custard.

See Nigel Slater’s website for more delicious recipes.