Winter Soup

There’s nothing like a bowl of warming soup on a cold winter’s day. Not only does it warm you up all the way to your toes, it also fills you up with lots of vitamin goodness. This soup uses cabbage and swede, ingredients that are not only full of vitamins, but also usually quite cheap. The lentils add a bit of useful protein. Make sure that the soup is left to simmer for at least 30 minutes, as the lentils need this time to become ready.

Serves 2

1 large onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

a pinch herbal salt

1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence

1 large carrot

200g swede

150g white cabbage

1 litre vegetable stock

50g curly kale

50g red split lentils

2 tablespoons tomato puree

salt and pepper to taste

bread and cheese to serve

Chop the onion into small pieces and sauté with the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add a pinch of salt and the dried herbs. Chop the carrot, swede and cabbage into small pieces and add to the pan. Stir occasionally.

Make a litre of vegetable stock, and add to the pan. The stock should be made with warm water, so as not to reduce the cooking temperature of the soup. Chop the curly kale into pieces, and add to the soup, and then add the lentils.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the tomato puree, and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Finally add freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.  

If serving with bread and cheese, toast the bread, then add to the soup once you have dished it up into individual heat proof dishes. Grate cheese on top, and place under the grill for a minute until the cheese has melted.