Sweet Potato Soup with Garlic Oil

A small bowl of this soup works well as a light starter. The garlic oil adds depth to this simple-tasting dish.

1 sweet potato (peeled and diced)

1 celery stick (finely chopped)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1 dried chili (crushed)

2 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)

butter

olive oil

vegetable stock

salt and pepper

Flat leaf parsley (to garnish)

- Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion and celery. Cover and cook on a low heat until both are soft and transluscent.

- Add the sweet potato and cover with stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low heat until the sweet potato is tender.

- Season to taste and blend the soup until smooth

- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the garlic and fry on a medium heat until it is lightly browned.

- Place the soup into serving bowls, spoon over the garlic oil, garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

Spicy Lentil Soup

The spicy lentil soup is a perfect winter warmer.

1 onion (chopped)

2 carrots (chopped)

1 stick celery (chopped)

2 inches ginger (finely chopped or grated)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

chili to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tin tomatoes

about 200 g red lentils

1 l vegetable stock

salt

pepper

(fresh parsley/coriander to garnish)

- Sweat the onion, carrot and celery in a soup pan until soft. At the end throw in the ginger, garlic and chili and cook them for about 5 minutes, add the rest of the spices and fry for a further minute.

- Add the tinned tomatoes and blend the mixture. Let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.

- Add the stock and lentils and cook until the lentils are soft.

Jamie's Cabbage Soup

This cabbage soup was quite different from the boring, tasteless stuff you often get. Being vegetarians we left out the meat and anchovies and added some green olives and capers instead. The garlic bread and sage butter made this dish extra delicious.

Beetroot and Coconut Soup with Cucumber Salsa

This is a perfect autumn or winter dish with a lovely citric and soft coconutty combination. The recipe is from Celia Brooks Brown's cook book called Entertaining Vegetarians.

Cucumber Salsa:

- 1/2 a small cucumber, cored and finely chopped.

- 1 red chili, de-seeded.

- salt

- lemon juice

Combine the ingredients and season with a twist of salt.

The Soup:

-1/2 kg of fresh beetroot

-zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1/2

-1 tsp ground cumin

-400 ml coconut milk

-vegetable stock

- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped.

- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, simmer the beetroot for 45-60 minutes until tender. Rinse them with cold water, remove the root, top and peel.

-Warm some stock in a pot, retaining a small amount for later, add the coconut milk and continue to gently warm the mixture.

- Combine the lemon zest and juice, ground cumin, some of the stock, garlic and beetroot and blend until smooth.

- Add the blended mixture to the pan and gently simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.

-Serve with a few spoonfuls of the cucumber salsa sitting on the surface of the soup.

Gazpacho

We have been enjoying/suffering a long heat wave so this cold soup was a perfect meal to make - no need to cook anything!

5-6 ripe tomatoes (peeled)

1 yellow pepper

1 red pepper

a whole cucumber

a small onion

olive oil

balsamic vinegar (or cherry vinegar)

salt

pepper

- Finely chop the cucumber, half of each pepper and half the tomatoes.

- Blend the remaining ingredients until smooth.

- Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and whisk in some olive oil. Season well, chill for a few hours and serve with ice cubes.

Jamie's Minestrone Soup

Jamie Oliver's Minestrone is one of my favourite soups at the moment. The flavours are well balanced and the beans and pasta make it very filling. Being vegetarians we obviously left the bacon out and we didn't have fennel either, but the essence of this recipe remains the same.

French Onion Soup

I got this recipe from Leena and Mikko who made a generous amount of it at a New Year's party. The soup may not look nice in the picture, but tastes smooth and lovely.

500-600 g onion

3 tblsp butter

1 tblsp oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

3 tblsp flour

2 l vegetable stock

1 dl white wine

salt

pepper

- Fry the onion with oil and butter on a low heat for about 15 minutes until golden and soft, stirring occasionally.

- Add the salt and sugar and let simmer for 30-40 minutes.

- Add the flour and fry for a few minutes, then add the stock and white wine and simmer for at least half an hour.

- Season to taste and serve with some french bread.

Scottish Broth

Scottish Broth is a hearty soup with root vegetables and lentils. Barley is great in it too but this time we didn't have any in our cupboards. You can also use for example cabbage, kohlrabi, turnip or any other root vegetable you have.

potatoes (diced)

swede (diced)

brown or green lentils

leek (chopped)

oil or butter (for frying)

carrot (grated)

celery (chopped)

vegetable stock

bayleaf

white pepper

salt

black pepper

- Sweat the leak in a pan, add the stock and all the ingredients except for the carrot and potato, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about an hour.

- Add the potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes before adding the carrot. Then simmer until the potatoes are soft and season to taste.

Beetroot Soup

This is a nice beetroot soup recipe adapted from Delia Smith's original idea, it's healthy, cheap and tasty!

700 g beetroot (peeled and chopped)

1 carrot (peeled and chopped)

1 onion (chopped)

a few celery sticks (chopped)

1 bay leaf

1 l stock

small tub sour cream

lemon juice

salt

pepper

cayenne pepper

- Fry the onion, carrot and celery on a medium heat until they are softened and have some colour.

- Add the stock and boil for a while, then add the beetroot and simmer until it's cooked, approximately an hour.

- Blend the soup and add some lemon juice, salt and pepper, and then stir in 2/3 of the sour cream and heat gently for a couple of minutes.

- Garnish with some sour cream and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Tip: Always use plastic gloves when you handle beetroot, and remember to wash your chopping board immediately after use!

Carrot and Corriander Soup

This sweet classic is a nice autumn warmer.

1/2 kilo carrots (peeled and diced)

1 onion (chopped)

2-3 cloves garlic (sliced)

stock (enough to cover the mixture)

salt

black pepper

cayenne pepper

pinch of turmeric

fresh corriander

(cream)

- Sweat the onion and garlic in a covered pan on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes.

- Add the turmeric, cayenne pepper and carrots and fry for a couple of minutes.

- Add the stock, bring to the boil, and simmer until cooked.

- Blend and season the soup and serve with some fresh corriander (and cream if you wish).