Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Winter’s Soup

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Why did I name this winter’s soup? It’s easy… there are three sesonal winter ingredients in it: kale, butternut squash and rutabaga (swede or yellow turnip). Do you know this sweet root vegetable? The name comes from the old Swedish word Rotabagge, meaning simply “root bag”. Rutabaga contains significant amounts of vitamin C: 100 g contains 25 mg, which is 42% of the daily recommended dose.

When it’s time to wrap up warm, it’s also time to dig out the pots and the soup recipes. I love soup at any time of year but particularly in autumn and winter and this one rich in taste and in texture, making sure you get lots of nutrients in the cold, dark months.

Winter’s Soup

Ingredients

– half of a smaller butternut squas, peeled, deseeded and cubed
– 1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cubed
– 1 small bunch of kale, washed and chopped
– 1 onion, peeled and diced
– 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
– 1/2 cup black beluga lentils
– 1 smaller ripe avocado, diced
– 1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
– 1 teaspoon cumin
– salt, pepper
– olive oil
– water


Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).  In a bowl toss butternut squash and rutabaga  with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread evenly onto a sheet pan. Roast the vegetables for 45 minutes, or until browned and tender, stirring once halfway through cooking. Leave it cool and set aside. 

In a pan saute the onions and garlic over medium high heat until soft and starting to turn brown. Add roasted vegetables, lentils, cumin, salt and pepper and 1-1,5 liters water. Bring up to a simmer. When the lentils are tender, fill pot to the top with kale and cover for at least 10 minutes so that the kale will wilt and steam. Check kale for tenderness after 10 minutes.  Once ready, add chopped parsley. Adjust final seasoning with salt and pepper.  Ladle and serve into individual bowls, and top with freshly diced avocado.

Vegan Red Lentil, Chickpea & Coriander Soup

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Before Christmas I like cooking easy recipes so I have more time for recipe developing, preparing the menu and wrapping the presents. I found this soup recipe on BBC Good Food (I did a bit of changing) – with its colour it cheers you up on dark, cold winter evenings.

Ingredients (serves 4)

– 3/4 cup red lentil
– 400 g (1 can) chickpeas, strained
– 400 g (1 can) tomatoes, whole, peeled
– 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
– 1/2 teaspoon fresh chili, chopped
– 1 red onion, chopped
– 1 lemon’s  freshly squeezed juice
– 2 cup water
– small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped (save a few leaves to serve)
– salt, pepper
– olive oil

Method

Heat a saucepan and dry fry the cumin seeds for 1-2 minutes, until they start to jump around the pan 🙂 and you can smell the aroma. Then add olive oil, red onion, chilli and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes and water, bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper,simmer until the lentils have softened. With a hand mixer/blender puree the soup. Then add the lemon juice and chickpeas. Heat gently for a couple of minutes, sprinkle with the coriander and serve it.

Avocado Creme Soup with Ginger

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Mindig is szerettük az avokádót, de néhány hónapja I. teljesen rákattant, így hetente legalább 4-5 db-ot megeszünk nyersen (meghámozva/kikanalazva héjából, felszeletelve, kevés olívaolajat, frissen facsart citromlevet csepegtetve rá, meg csipetnyi só, bors – hmmm, mennyei). Azt tudtátok, hogy az avokádó hihetetlenül jól lúgosítja a szervezetet? Dr. Robert O. Young, aki a pH csoda című könyvet írta, állítólag 5 db avokádót megeszik naponta!

Az avokádó nagyon tápláló, sok proteint és olajat tartalmaz (zsiradéktartalma mintegy 25%). Éretlen termése mérgezőnek számít, ezért figyeljünk oda, hogy ha keményet sikerül vennünk – itthon többnyire ilyenek kaphatók -, akkor hagyjuk a konyhapulton beérni néhány nap alatt. Akkor jó, amikor a héja elkezd feketedni és tapintásra már puha. Fogyasztásához a termést fel kell vágni, kőmagját el kell távolítani és a fűszerezés után akár ki is kanalazhatjuk a húsát. Megfőzve keserűvé válhat az íze, ezért ezt a levest csak éppen megmelegítve fogyasztjuk.
A recept az egyik kedvenc blogomról származik, David-től és Luise-tól, akik a Green Kitchen Stories-t írják. Nagyon szeretem a vegetáriánus, vegán, cukormentes ételeiket, sok inspirációt kapok írásaikból.

Hozzávalók 4 főre:
– 2 db nagyobb avokádó, kimagozva, felkockázva
– 1 db kisebb vöröshagyma, felaprítva
– 2 gerezd fokhagyma, felaprítva
– 2,5 cm hosszú gyömbér darab, meghámozva, felaprítva
– 2 db lime kifacsart leve
– egy kis darab chili, szárított vagy friss is jó, felaprítva
– só, bors
– olívaolaj
– néhány levél menta
– 4 dl víz

Egy lábosban hevítsük fel az olívaolajat, dinszteljük meg rajta a vöröshagymát, fokhagymát, chilit és a gyömbért. Vegyük le a tűzről, adjuk hozzá az avokádót, a lime levet, vizet, sózzuk, borsozzuk és botmixerrel pürésítsük krémesre. Ha túl sűrűnek találjuk, adjunk még hozzá egy kevés vizet. Tálalás előtt melegítsük fel a tűzhelyen, de vigyázzunk arra, hogy ne legyen forró. Szedjük tálkákba, locsoljuk meg egy kevés olívaolajjal és szórjunk rá néhány levél mentát. (Újramelegítve már tényleg kesernyéssé válik az íze, mi kipróbáltuk, szóval érdemes egyszerre megenni. Nyáron hűtve is nagyon finom.)

Cream Corn Soup

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I spent the first weekend of this year in Vienna with my friend, Juci. On Saturday morning when we were wondering around Naschmarkt we decided to cook Mexican dinner. The weather was cold outside so this warm, creamy soup was the best for our bodies and souls.

Cream Corn Soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

– 4 fresh corn, cut off the cob (if you use frozen you need 200-250 g corn)
– 1 medium onion, chopped
– 1 clove garlic, chopped
– 1 organic vegetable stock cube
– 500 ml water
– 100 ml oat cream (you can use cream too)
– 3 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves
– salt, pepper
– olive oil

Method

Heat olive oil in a pot, add onion, garlic and saute until it starts to slightly caramelize.  Add the corn, water, vegetable stock cube and 2 tablespoons coriander leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for approximately 8-10 minutes. With an emulsion blender, process the soup to form a slightly chunky stew consistency. Season with salt and pepper, add the cream and cook for another 3 minutes over medium heat.  (Add extra water if it seems too thick.)  Adjust flavor as necessary. Serve with coriander leaves and crouton on top.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

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I found this soup’s recipe on a Hungarian food blog. I cooked it and I fell in love with it. When the weather is cold and wet I love to make soup. This pumpkin soup’s with its orange colour and delicious flavor definitely heats up your body and soul.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

– 1000 g butternut squash
– 1 large potato, peeled and diced
– 1 medium apple, peeled, deseeded and diced
– 1 medium onion, chopped
– 2-3 tablespoons honey
– 2 low salt vegetable stock cubes
– 1200 ml water
– 100-200 ml oat cream (you can use cream too)
– 50 g butter
– 1 tablespoon olive oil
– 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
– salt, pepper
– nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Cut the butternut squash in half length ways. Scoop the seeds out of the squash with a spoon. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes or until the squash is soft. Then allow to cool.

In a large pot saute the onion with the thyme on the butter over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add honey and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Add the stock cubes, the water and the diced potato and apple. Cook over medium heat until the potato and apple are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Scoop the soft flesh of the squash out of the skin and add to the pot. Season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Use a hand blender to whizz the soup until smooth. Add the cream and cook for another 5 minutes over medium heat. Serve the soup with toast goat cheese on top.