We’ve been forecasted some fine weather which generally means it’s time for a detox before pulling the shorts on. My local supermarket – Quish’s Supervalu – is great for presenting packs of vegetables and sometimes include a recipe card e.g. guacamole, thai curry paste, ratatouille. Yes, I know I should be picking out my vegetables and not using unnecessary packaging but for a lot of us time is an issue when shopping and it’s great to have a selection like this ready to go. The vegetables pictured here were packed together but without a recipe card so I thought they would make a great detox soup. The origin of the produce was marked as Ireland/Holland and I don’t know what was from where but bunged it into the basket anyway.
As you can see it included carrots, onion, parsnip and parsley along with a bulbous vegetable that I grew up on calling a turnip but which is in fact a swede. The flesh of a turnip is usually white and that of a swede verges on yellow. To get to know your veggies better and to find out what is best eaten when, there is a super Irish website called http://www.bestinseason.ie where you can get to know your shallots from your scallions etc. and when they are in season.
To make this a detox soup meant cutting out the fat of butter, the starch of potato and the salt of stock that I would normally add to a soup. Instead I used very little olive oil to soften the onions and a good dose of cumin for flavour. The fresh parsley is great to add flavour too and it might surprise you to know that it is a good source of iron.
This quantity will make up 1 litre of soup which is great to have on standby in the fridge for when you’re starving and trying to be good.
You will need:
1 medium onion
1 tsp olive oil
1 small swede
3 carrots
1 parsnip
2 tsp ground cumin
750ml water
2 tbsp fresh parsley
Method:
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a low/medium heat and add the onion. Leave to soften for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile peel and dice the swede, carrots and parsnip and set aside.
Add the cumin to the softened onion and stir well, allow to cook for 1 minute.
Add the diced vegetables and mix well.
Add 750ml water and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Rinse and finely chop the parsley and add most of it to the soup before liquidising it.
Use the remaining parsley to garnish the soup and season with some black pepper.
Feel virtuous & Enjoy.
Til next time, Sheila