A Souper Day

Butchers £14.78 (1.5Kg Chicken, 400g Lean Steak Mince. 12 Rashers Smoked Streaky Bacon)
http://www.barkerbrosbutchers.co.uk/Site/HOME.html

Our meat shop for the week has been done. I  feel confident that the balance of spend between vegetables and meat is pretty good and probably in keeping with what we should be aiming for. Notably it is considerably less than I might previously have spent. Combining a restricted budget with sustainable food ethics is proving trickier than I imagined and I definitely need to rethink next weeks meal plans. Perhaps we need to consider embarking upon the 5:2 diet!!!!

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It is "soup day", today.
The family favourite is tomato but as they are completely out of season and so stupidly expensive I decided to stick with the orange colour scheme and go for carrot! We do, generally, eat rather a lot of soup but most usually for lunch.
I don't know why we automatically view it as a light meal. Served with plenty of freshly baked bread, a bowl of soup is both filling and nutritious. However, I did make a blackberry cake for pudding, just to be sure that there were no rumbly tummies!



I genuinely believe that pretty much any leftovers can be transformed into an interesting and delicious soup and as such have a definite love affair with my hand blender.
This cavalier attitude to soup making really frustrates Marcus. He likes to follow instructions to the letter and wants to know weights and timings. I still stand by my claim that with most casseroles and soups ideas and guidelines are all that are really needed but for anyone who is in the "Marcus camp" here are the exact measurements that I used to make a "really yummy carrot soup"

Carrot and Ginger Soup (Clean Plates 5/5)
1 Onion
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
600g Carrots
130g Parsnip
Scant Tsp Cumin Seeds
Tsp Coriander Seeds
Knob of Root Ginger (yielded a heaped Tsp once grated!)
70g Red Lentils
1.5 Litres Stock (I used Kallo Organic Chicken Stock Cubes)

Peel and finely chop the onion. Gently heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onion until translucent. 
Meanwhile peel and grate the carrots and parsnips. I do this rather than dicing as it is heaps quicker than chopping and it will also cut down on the cooking time.
Toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and then grind to a fine powder. Add to the pan with the carrots and parsnip and continue to sweat.
Peel and grate the ginger and add this, along with the lentils, to the pan.
Pour in the stock and leave to simmer until everything is tender.
Blitz until smooth,.
Serve with lovely big hunks of  freshly baked bread.