Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Cod Fish Soup

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INGREDIENTS:
  • 1/2 lb salt codfish, soaked
  • 4 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, small
  • a small piece of celery
  • a small bunch of parsley stems
  • a small sprig of thyme
  • a bay-leaf
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 potato, medium-sized
  • 2 tablespoons of dry white wine
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1/2 tablespoon of chopped-up parsley
  • a good pinch of pepper
  • salt
  • toasted or fried bread, for serving
PREPARATION: 
  1. Drain 1/2 pound of salt cod fish that has been soaked. Cut it up into medium-sized squares.
  2. Put 4 tablespoons of good-quality olive oil in a saucepan. Take one small onion and cut into small pieces. Add to the olive oil. Cook onion over moderate heat, but don't allow the onion to become colored.
  3. Add a small piece of celery, a small bunch of parsley stems, a small sprig of thyme and a bay-leaf. Let cool for several moments.
  4. Skin two tomatoes, remove seeds and cut into slices. Add to the saucepan.
  5. Peel one medium-sized potato and cut into slices. Add to the saucepan, together with two tablespoons of dry white wine and one cup of water.
  6. Continue cooking until potato is half-cooked. Then add the codfish and remaining one-half tablespoon of olive oil.
  7. Remove the parsley stems from the saucepan. Put in 1/2 tablespoon of chopped-up parsley. Season with salt and a good pinch of pepper.
  8. As soon as the vegetables are completely cooked put pieces of toasted or fried bread in a serving dish and pour the soup over them. Serve hot.
Cod fish is a popular sea food with a low-fat content, mild flavor and a flaky, dense white flesh. Average mass of the Atlantic cod is 11-26 lb (5-12 kg), but some specimens can weigh up to 220 lb (100 kg).
Cod liver oil, made from processed cod livers, are an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, and vitamins like vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin E. Cod meat is white in color and is flaky and moist when cooked. Atlantic cod is one of the main ingredients in fish and chips in the UK, along with plaice and haddock. It is also often consumed in Portugal and Spain.
Cod are currently at risk from overfishing in the United Kingdom, Canada and majority of other Atlantic countries. On the market you can find fish commonly known as cod which are unrelated to Gadus genus. This name confusion is partly market-driven. Some fish have names derived from cod, such as tomcod, codlet or codling.
Sandra D. is a blogger and owner of http://www.womensboatshoesbuy.com


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2 Great Zucchini Soup Recipes

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Here are two great zucchini soup recipes.
I made the first zucchini soup the other night and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. I'm constantly amazed by how the simplest easy soup recipes with the most basic of ingredients - like this zucchini soup recipe - can be so satisfying and delicious.
When you're in need of quick easy dinner ideas, why not think soup? It's simple, satisfying and can be served hot or cold (depending on the recipe), making it a great choice all year round.
I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches, for a quick and easy dinner.
The second one is for a cold zucchini soup that is on my "must try" list. It's from one of my favorite cookbooks of the moment and is full of some of my favorite foods - lemon juice, plain yogurt, pesto and basil.
Curried Zucchini Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Coarse salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 3 medium), sliced 1 inch thick
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish
Directions
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and 1 tablespoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and curry powder and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add zucchini, potato, and 4 cups water to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. In batches, puree soup in a blender (do not fill more than halfway) until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed; serve immediately, or let cool, and refrigerate in an airtight container until chilled. Garnish with toasted almonds.
Variation Ideas: Skip the curry powder. Add a couple big handfuls of spinach into the hot soup right at the end of cooking and give it a few seconds to wilt. After pureeing, add a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Cold Zucchini Soup Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: 2 to 3 hours
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
6 medium zucchini
1 leek
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups water or vegetable stock
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup pesto
1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt
fresh basil leaves and extra yogurt for garnish
Directions
1. Slice the zucchinis thinly and the leek julienne style (skinny 2-inch long slices).
2. Place them in a soup pot add the salt and water or stock and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes and then turn the heat down to low and simmer another minute or two.
3. Allow the soup to cool, then add the lemon juice, pesto and yogurt. In patches, puree the soup in a blender.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt, pepper and/or lemon juice as necessary. Serve soup chilled, with 1 teaspoon yogurt at the center and surrounded by leave of fresh basil as garnish.
Martha is a healthy weight loss coach, cooking coach and cookie lover, who loves to share ways to make cooking and eating simple, easy and delicious and help you stop dieting and instead discover the pleasure of happy healthy balanced eating, cooking and living. Her websites include http://www.simple-nourished-living.com and http://www.besteasycookierecipes.com. Visit today to Get your FREE copy of her Homemade Granola Bars e-cookbooklet.


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Pot Roast Soup With Vegetables and Oodles of Noodles

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I made pot roast two days ago. Everyone in the family loved it. This one-pot meal turned into two meals. After the second meal I still had a small hunk of roast and some sauce leftover. Instead of discarding this food I made a batch of soup.
Cubed meat and sauce were the base of my soup. I added chopped onions, celery and carrots for flavor. I also added frozen peas and corn. After the soup cooked for a few minutes I realized it needed more water. The amount of water depends on how much sauce you have left over and the size of the vegetables. If your soup is too thick add more water.
Any kind of small pasta will work with this recipe. You may use Ditalini (medium-size tube pasta) or Tubetti (tiny tube pasta) or even stars. Elbows would also be good. The pasta will thicken the soup.
The meat has already been cooked, so you don't need to simmer this soup very long. As soon as the carrots and pasta are tender the soup is done. I served it with store-bought sourdough bread, fresh from the oven. Garlic bread sticks are another option. Summer fruit -- juicy cherries, red and green grapes, or watermelon -- complete thi one-pot meal.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 cups leftover pot roast, cubed (more if you have it)
1 cup leftover sauce
4 cups water (or more)
3 tablespoons beef soup base
2 stalks celery, chopped
6 medium carrots, peeled and chunked
1 cup frozen petite peas
1 cup frozen corn
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 to 3/4 cup tube pasta
Method
Pour olive oil into soup kettle. Saute chopped onion in oil until soft. Add pot roast, sauce, water, soup base, celery, carrots, peas, corn, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer a half hour. Add pasta, cover, and cook 15 minutes more, or until pasta is tender. Correct the seasoning if necessary. Makes 8 servings.
Copyright 2011 by Harriet Hodgson
Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for 30+ years. Her 24th book, Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief, written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from Amazon.
Centering Corporation published her 26th book, Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life, a companion journal, and The Spiritual Woman: Quotes to Refresh and Sustain Your Soul. Harriet's latest book, Happy Again!, is currently in production.
She has two other new books, 101 Affirmations to Ease Your Grief Journey and Real Meals on 18 Wheels: A Guide for Healthy Living on the Highway, written with Kathryn Clements, RD and available from Amazon soon.
Please visit Harriet's website, click on the Blog tab, and share your thoughts with this busy author and grandmother.


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Chinese Soups: An Introduction

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Although stir frying is probably the most well-known method in Chinese cooking, you might be surprised what an important role soups play in Chinese cuisine.
Chinese soups, however, are completely different from Western ones, and by this I mean both the actual soup and the concept. The first few times I tried butternut squash soup in England, it took my 'Chinese stomach' a while to understand what I just had.
Chinese soup is usually 'clear', never creamy. Although the soup obviously contains various ingredients, it rather looks like 'coloured' water. So, this kind of soup can never be like butternut squash soup as a 'main' on the table, it is not heavy enough.
The history of Chinese soup goes back to thousands of years ago. In those ancient times, rich people had soup on a daily basis. Some of the soups were supposed to keep you healthy, calm your mind, and give you a long life.
The most famous soups are the ones with the purpose of nutritious boost and medication, for example, chicken and mushroom soup is best for helping women achieve a speedy recovery after giving birth. And if you are not feeling well, lost appetite for food, people would normally suggest you to have some soup as it is easy to digest. These kinds of soups normally require hours boiling, and some of them can be very expensive.
In recently years, these 'nutritious' soups have again become popular in China. They can normally can be taken alone, without rice or any stable food. And according to their functions, they can be taken before the meal, for boosting appetite, or after meal, for digestion, or just in between the meals, and may even serve for medical purpose.
The 'nutritious' 'soup' tradition is still well-kept in Southern China, especially in the Canton area. In contrast, in the North of China, soup is still part of a typical meal. Soups normally accompany dumplings, bao zi (steamed bread with fillings), or bing (flat bread). Some of them are very easy to make. The most popular homemade soup is 'sour and spicy' soup. It sounds very similar to the 'hot and sour' soup you can get in the restaurants or takeaways in the West, but it is rather different. Northeastern 'sour and spicy' soup has tomato, cucumber and eggs with sour and chilli seasonings in a clear water base, without any thickening.
Another two popular soups are lamb soup and chicken soup. Lamb soup is believed to have originated within Chinese Islamic ethnic groups, but has become one of most popular soups in Northern cuisine. It consists of boiled lamb and viscera with seasonings. At home, we normally use lamb ribs, with bones to boil the soup, and with some ground white pepper and coriander.
About the Author
Shibin Zhang writes about Chinese food and Chinese culture. She specialises in the cuisine of North East China and in Islamic Chinese cuisine. On her website, you can find more information about Chinese soups.


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Vegetable Soup Ideas

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You don't always require meat, seafood, or poultry to create soup. Actually, some of the tastiest and most popular soups are vegetable based. Whether you're a vegetarian or just trying to improve the quantity of vegetables you consume, eating vegetable soups will suit you either way. There isn't any denying that vegetables tend to be healthy in addition to being delicious- a winning combination. If you think vegetable soups can be a little bit bland, there are numerous different herbal treatments, spices as well as seasonings you should use to cheer them up much more.
There are a variety of vegetable soups you may make. You could make vegetable broth through simmering veggies past their own prime along with vegetable peelings within water. Throw in some of your favorite herbs as well as garlic and you'll have a wonderful broth in an hour or two, and all it needs is a quick straining.
To help to make your vegetable broth into a delicious veggie soup, you will have to add a few chopped veggies and simmer all of them until they're soft. Noodles, grain, potatoes, and lentils can be added to include another taste and sufficient texture to help make the soups satisfying as well as wholesome. Add these whenever you add the actual raw vegetables and they'll cook collectively.
Vegetables that make great soups.
There are numerous vegetables you should use to help to make soup quality recipes. If you have limited funds, just have a look for vegetables on special offer at your local grocery store and you can make soup from these. Stores will often discount vegetables that are reaching the end of their sell-by-date, so you could pick up bargain vegetables that are perfectly good enough for making soup.
Carrots, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, parsnip, pumpkin, tomato, red onion, potato and leeks are just some of the vegetables you could use in soup recipes. Some of these vegetables are seasonal and using ingredients within their natural seasons can lead to a more intensely flavored soup. However many are available throughout every season, and if not there are plenty of soups you may make in mass and then deep freeze.
Freezing soups is actually a really good idea, as they can be defrosted very quickly in a microwave, providing you with a nutritious and healthy meal within a short time period. One idea is to make double the quantity you require every time that you make soup, so that you can freeze half of the batch for the next time that you want it, without having to make the effort of starting from scratch again. Another option is to spend a day that you have free, cooking lots of different vegetable soups, freezing them all in order to keep you supplied for a long duration.
Whether you choose to make a soup to enjoy at the time or to freeze for later, just remember that vegetable soup is a fantastic way of enjoying a healthy meal. Taking the healthy option can sometimes seem less exciting, but by trying different recipes you might stumble upon a soup that you really enjoy. For example I am a massive fan of leek and potato soup, something I would not have realized unless I had experimented with a variety of vegetable soups.


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Chinese Soup: Bird's Nest or Hot And Sour? Benefits Of Chinese Soups

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Many of us have heard of many famous Chinese soups like Bird's Nest soup and hot and sour soup as well as the intriguing Buddha jumps over the wall soup. Do you know that the Chinese use soup for medicinal as well as food purposes? The Chinese believe in the balancing of the yin and yang or hot and cold forces of nature and this is the basis of the ingredients used in Chinese soups.
Aside from the nutritional value of the food itself, the Chinese use medicinal properties of the ingredients in the soup to maintain good health or to speed along recovery of sick individuals with these ingredients. Ideally, fresh ingredients are used and where possible, the best quality is also used. An example of soup valued for its healing properties is the Bird's Nest soup. In Mandarin, this is called the yan wo or literally Swallow's Nest.
These are edible nests of the swift or swallow. When mixed with water, the nests which are whitish become jelly like and believed to have many health benefits. Among the benefits include improving the immune system, and speeding up the rebirth of cells. The bird's nest could cost hundreds of dollars but when regularly consumed, it is believed to improve resistance to diseases in children by boosting the immune system, strengthen lungs and kidneys of men as well as improve the skin of women. Others believe it can help people suffering from asthma.
Meanwhile there are soups that are believed to relieve colds and bring down fevers. When one has a fever, the Chinese believe that drinking soup that has more yin will bring down the fever and when one has a cold, he will be given soup that had more yang to balance out the lack of yang forces in the body. Examples of these soups include the winter melon soup which is used to cool down the body and usually taken during the hot summer months. Chrysanthemum is also incorporated in foods to achieve the same purpose. For the cold months, ginseng and ginger could be used to warm the body that may be lacking in yang energy. The hot and sour soup is also said to be good for colds.
Many Chinese soups use herbs and plants with medicinal properties as ingredients. It is these ingredients as well as the balancing of the nutrients in the other ingredients that bring us a lot of benefits. It is all in the balancing of the different elements in nature as the Chinese believe. And if you feel out of sorts, why not take in some Chinese soup to balance out what's bothering you?
Keiko Mendoza loves to travel around the world in search of Asian cuisines that satisfies both her palate and her inquisitive mind. If you are in the Philippines check out Mack's Restaurant, an authentic family-owned Chinese restaurant at the heart of Calamba, Laguna Philippines.


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Delicious Homemade Soups For a Cold Winter Night

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Vegetable Soup
(Buy beef soup/neck bones and/or sirloin beef at your local grocery store)
2 lb sirloin steak
1 14 oz can of corn
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
4 or 5 celery stalks
2 onions
4 carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen okra
Be sure to leave meat in chunks when you are making broth.
Broth - In a large pot add water, bones and/or chunks of meat, leaves from celery stalks, chunks of onion, a few carrot tops and season with thyme, basil, and oregano.
Cook until meat is tender. Remove bones and take the meat off of the bone. Throw away the bones. Strain broth and freeze to defat. Put chopped up meat into a clean pot, add seasonings such as garlic, celery, thyme, basil, and oregano. You can add a can of beef broth to give the broth more depth in flavor. If you don't want to take time to make the broth homemade, you can use canned broth instead.
*Put in chopped onion, chopped celery and carrot, peas, okra, corn, and one can of whole tomatoes that you have chopped up. Cook until veggies are tender.
*Substitute any vegetables that you prefer. Black eyed peas, squash, zucchini are nice additions!
Chicken Noodle Soup
1 whole chicken
2 stalks of celery
3 carrots
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp pepper
1 tsp poultry seasoning
fresh parsley
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp marjoram
2 cloves garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 onion, quartered
2 cups noodles
1 can chicken broth
Boil chicken in a large pot with tops of carrots, celery leaves, the quartered onion and a garlic clove. When chicken is done, remove chicken to a large bowl to cool. Strain broth with wire mesh strainer into a large bowl. After broth cools, put in freezer to defat. Remove meat from bones of chicken. Discard bones, skin and chop up chicken meat. Remove fat from broth and return broth to a large pot. Add one can of chicken broth to give it depth. If you do not want to make the broth homemade, you can use canned broth. Put meat back in broth. Add chopped onion, carrot, celery, seasonings. Simmer until veggies are tender. Add noodles in, and cook until done. Enjoy with some homemade bread or cornbread!


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How To Make Spicy Tomato Soup

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At any time of year but particularly in the depths of winter, you just cannot beat having a nice bowl of spicy tomato soup, yet most supermarkets and restaurants only serve plain tomato soup. And whilst it is great served with a swirl of cream on top of it and a large chunk of crusty bread, many of us crave for something will a little more "Bite" to it. So if like us you love spicy tomato soup but find it rarely on sale then why not try our recipe for spicy tomato soup?
When I started out first making spicy tomato soup at home all I actually did was use tinned soup and then add in sliced chilies to it before microwaving it. This actually gives good results if you are in a hurry, and it is a technique I still use today when I am in a rush. However if you have the time, then try the following, you will need:
1 or 2 Bird's Eye (Very hot) or Serrano (Hot) chilies depending on how spicy you like your tomato soup
1 red pepper cut into inch sized chunks - you can de-seed it or not, again this depends on how spicy you want it
1 tin of plum tomatoes
1 squirt of tomato puree
1 or 2 cloves of Garlic (Local organically grown is best) - peeled
1 large onion cut into small ½ inch pieces
1 tablespoon of Olive oil
1 vegetable stock cube
1 teaspoon full of dried mixed herbs
½ tablespoon of sugar
Pinch of salt and pepper to taste (As required)
To make the soup roast the garlic, pepper, chili and onion in an oven at 200 deg C for about 25 minutes with the Olive Oil.
Whilst they are cooking, use the vegetable stock cube to make up approx 1 pint of stock, adding in the tinned tomatoes, puree, herbs, sugar and salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes, then add in the roasted vegetables and simmer for another half hour.
Then place the contents of the pan in to a blender, and blend until you are happy with the constituency of the soup.
You can then serve immediately or just let it go cold and then you can freeze it in plastic containers if required. Enjoy!
Note: The "Spicy" element can be varied considerably by the choice of chilies that you choose to use, so experiment and enjoy, hot and spicy soups can be addictive.
If you like this recipe then why not find out more about How To Grow Tomatoes and learn more about How To Grow Vegetables on my site which is packed full of free tips and ideas as well as lots more recipes.


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Add Vegetables to Your Diet With Good for You, Very Veggie Soup

For years, the US Government relied on a food pyramid graphic to explain nutrition to consumers. But the pyramid received lots of criticism and many consumers found it confusing. Now this symbol has been replaced with a simple dinner plate graphic. The dinner plate is divided into four sections: fruits, vegetables, grains and protein.
The fruits and vegetables section takes up half of the plate. The message: You need to eat more of these foods.
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick describes the graphic in her article, "Food Pyramid Out, 'My Plate' in for Healthy Eating." As she explains, "Gone are the old pyramid's references to sugars, fats or oils. What was once a category called "meat and beans" is now simply 'proteins.'"
Andrew Martin links the plate graphic to the nation's obesity crisis in his article, "Government's Dietary Advice: Eat Less," published in "The New York Times." Martin points out that many Americans are eating too many calories each day, "expanding their waistlines and imperiling their health." He goes on to say the previous nutrition guidelines asked consumers to curb sugar, solid fats, and salt, but failed to urge consumers to eat less over all.
Vegetables are packed with vitamins, fiber, and they fill you up. How can you add more vegetables to your diet? I sneak vegetables into meat loaf and chili. My family loves stir fry so I fix it often. Combining vegetables, such as onions, zucchini, mushrooms and baby tomatoes, also makes them appealing. But making vegetable soup is one of the best things I've done lately.
Sure, the supermarket shelves are stocked with canned and dehydrated soups. When I read the ingredients list, however, I find things like soy protein, which I'm allergic to, and additives I can't pronounce. Making soup from scratch gives me, and you, control over the salt, vegetables, and flavor. And this soup recipe is flavor-packed.
The ingredients list calls for dried Italian herbs. A jar of herbs that has been on the shelf for months will have lost its punch, so use herbe you have purchased recently. I used a combination of oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary. To bring out the flavor of the herbs, rub them with your hands before adding them to the soup.
The pasta in the soup will continue to absorb moisture in the refrigerator. So you may need to add additional chicken stock or water to leftover soup. Serve the soup with French bread and fruit for dessert. You're well on your way to getting the fruits and vegetables you need in a day. Here's my original recipe for Good for You, Very Veggie Soup.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 cups lower sodium chicken broth (more if needed)
2 celery hearts, chopped
3 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large beefsteak tomato (or 2 Roma), chopped
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon lower sodium salt
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (more if you wish)
1/2 cup small pasta (little tubes, stars, elbows, etc.)
Method
Pour oil into soup pot. Add onions and saute for two minutes. Add all vegetables and seasonings. Cover, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in tubetti pasta. Cover again and simmer, stirring every so often so the tubetti doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook until pasta is done. Makes 8-10 servings.
Copyright 2011 by Harriet Hodgson
Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for 30+ years. Her 24th book, Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief, written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from Amazon.
Centering Corporation published her 26th book, Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life and a companion journal. The company also published The Spiritual Woman: Quotes to Refresh and Restore Your Soul and her latest book, Happy Again!
Hodgson has two other new books, 101 Affirmations to Ease Your Grief Journey, available from Amazon, and Real Meals on 18 Wheels: A Guide for Healthy Living on the Highway, Kathryn Clements, RD, co-author, and available from Amazon soon. Please visit her website, click on the blag tab, and share your thoughts with this busy author.


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How to Make Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

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Red peppers and tomatoes both contain lycopene, which needs heating to reach its full nutritional benefits. These two recipes allow the lycopene to be released, so you can get the full benefits. It has been found that lycopene, also found in water melons, can help men reduce their risk of prostate cancer and also help with erectile dysfunctions. As for women, it can help during the menopause and perhaps reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
In the second recipe I give here, a fennel bulb can be added, and instead of basil I have used rosemary and oregano to give it more body. You can make this hot winter soup with home-made chicken or vegetable stock, or plain water but try not to use a stock cube as I think these give a synthetic flavour to food, and they have a high sodium (salt) content so could damage your health rather than give it a boost.
First of all here is the summer recipe for a chilled soup.
Chilled Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Ingredients
1 large red pepper, cut lengthways de-seeded and de veined
1 lb tomatoes
1 large red onion cut into quarters
4 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil for drizzling
4 fl.oz water
1 inch piece of peeled ginger root cut into five or six thin slices
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, shredded
1 tbsp fresh basil leaves, shredded
½ pint natural yoghurt
1 pint tomato juice or passata
freshly ground black pepper
fresh chives snipped to garnish
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C / 430°F / Gas Mark 7.
Place pepper halves, skin side up with the tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves on a baking tray and drizzle them with olive oil. Cook for 45 minutes until the tomatoes have a few blackened patches on the skins. Remember to turn the vegetables regularly so that they roast evenly.
Allow the tomatoes and peppers to cool so that you can handle them. It makes them easier to peel if you put them in a bowl and cover this with cling film, so that they steam for 10 minutes.
Peel the tomatoes and pepper, and put the tomato juices and the peeled tomatoes and peppers in a blender with the water and pieces of ginger root, and zap them quickly.
Add the onion quarters, garlic, coriander, basil, tomato juice or passata plus the natural yoghurt to the blender and blend until smooth.
Add freshly ground pepper and blend once more.
Chill for 30 minutes and serve garnished with the chives and a swirl of natural yoghurt.
Hot Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Ingredients
As above, but less yoghurt as you only need it for garnish.
1 bulb fennel, quartered
rosemary and oregano instead of coriander and basil
chicken or vegetable stock instead of passata.(no water necessary)
Method
Follow the roasting method as above and peel the vegetables.
Now, heat the stock and add the vegetables and cook for about 45 minutes or until the fennel is tender.
If you want to you can serve the soup as it is or blend it before serving and reheat.
Add a swirl of yoghurt to the bowls of soup before serving.
http://www.herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.com If you enjoyed these recipes, why not visit this site for a lot more plus information about the food we eat and its health benefits. There's also the history of food items and some superstitions and legends surrounding some of the herbs and spices we eat.


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