Comfort Food

Soups are the perfect comfort food. Its liquid base makes it easy to eat, it’s creamy texture is moreish. Not to mention that it is full of nutrients. It has a good balance of protein, fat, carbs (if you include the right vegetables or bread), as well as minerals and vitamins that our bodies need to power on through the day.

If you are on a tight budget, soup is affordable to make. If you want to lose weight, soup is a perfect meal to have once, twice or even three times a day. It clears up your sinus and in general, it just makes you feel good. There is a reason why soup is seen as a medicine. Pack your soup with garlic, ginger and all those things that are good for your health and you’ve got a perfect energy-booster ready in less than an hour.

Soups Across The Globe

Who doesn’t the convenience, simplicity, and versatility of a one-pot meal? Need to use up last week’s vegetables? Make soup. Coming down with a cold? Feeding a crowd? There’s a soup for every occasion in every culture across the globe. It’s universally beloved.

And why wouldn’t it be? They are so easy to make, they are perfect during a cold winter day or a light summer evening. They can be composed of so many different flavors and cuisines that it is possible to travel just about anywhere with your taste buds.

If you are a busy person, preparing a huge batch of soup is perfect for the week and it lasts in the fridge. All you need is some bread to soak up the last bits of the liquid and presto! You are full. Soups can have additional noodles, pasta, and even rice! But today, we will go through two easy recipes for every vegan out there.

Carrot & Coriander Soup

Everyone loves a super healthy soup that is really easy to make. Add some super foods on top of the finished product: like hemp, sesame or sunflower seeds and this recipe from BBC Good Food will go down very quickly!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 potato chopped
• 450g carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1.2l vegetable or chicken stock
• handful coriander (about ½ a supermarket packet)

Directions

• Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pan, add 1 chopped onion, then fry for 5 mins until softened.
• Stir in 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 chopped potato, then cook for 1 min.
• Add the 450g peeled and chopped carrots and 1.2l vegetable or chicken stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat.
• Cover and cook for 20 mins until the carrots are tender.
• Tip into a food processor with a handful of coriander then blitz until smooth (you may need to do this in two batches). Return to pan, taste, add salt if necessary, then reheat to serve.
  
  

Butternut soup with crispy sage & apple croutons

The apple and sage contrast beautifully with naturally sweet butternut squash in this low-fat, gluten-free festive dinner party starter from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion
• , chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 butternut squash, about 1kg, peeled, deseeded and chopped
• 3 tbsp madeira or dry Sherry
• 500ml gluten-free vegetable stock, plus a little extra if necessary
• 1 tsp chopped sage
• 20 small leaves, cleaned and dried
• sunflower oil
• for frying

For the apple croutons

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large eating apple
•  peeled, cored and diced
• a few pinches of golden caster sugar

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry for 5 mins. Add the garlic and squash, and cook for 5 mins more. Pour in the Madeira and stock, stir in the chopped sage, then cover and simmer for 20 mins until the squash is tender.
2. Blitz with a hand blender or in a food processor until completely smooth. Allow to cool in the pan, then chill until ready to serve. Will keep for 2 days or freeze for 3 months. To make the crispy sage, heat some oil (a depth of about 2cm) in a small pan, then drop in the sage leaves until they are crisp – you will need to do this in batches. Drain on kitchen paper. Will keep for several hours.
3. Just before serving, reheat the soup in a pan. The texture should be quite thick and velvety, but thin it with a little stock if it is too thick.
4. For the apple croutons, heat the oil in a large pan, add the apple and fry until starting to soften. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir until lightly caramelized.
5. To serve, ladle the soup into small bowls and top with the apple, sage and a grinding of black pepper.