Tuscan Bean Soup
You can’t beat this on a cold day with some good crusty bread, and it’s so quick and easy to make. You can vary the beans: borlotti are excellent, too.
Serves 4
Vegan
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 × 400g tins cannellini beans
About 400ml (14fl oz) water or vegetable stock
1 lemon, halved
Salt and black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve (optional)
Roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onions then cover and cook gently for 10 minutes, until tender but not brown. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes longer.
2. Add the cannellini beans, together with their liquid, then purée in a food processor or with a hand-held blender until fairly smooth and creamy.
3. Return the mixture to the pan and add some water or vegetable stock to adjust the consistency to your liking. Bring to the boil, then season with salt and pepper and a squeeze or two of lemon juice to bring out the flavour.
4. Serve the soup in warmed bowls, topped with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, if you like, some flat-leaf parsley and coarsely ground black pepper.
Butternut Squash Soup with Chilli Oil
When it comes to making soup, you can’t get much simpler than this, yet it is one of the most delectable soups of all. There are two ways of making it: to keep within 30 minutes, I’m giving the top-of-the-stove version, but you can also roast the butternut squash instead (see tip), and whilst this takes around 1 hour, if you roast the squash in advance, perhaps when you’ve got the oven on for something else, this soup can be made in about 10 minutes.
Serves 4
Vegan
2 tbsp olive oil
1 butternut squash, weight about 1kg (21b 2oz), peeled and cut into 1cm (½in) cubes
About 750ml (27fl oz) vegetable stock, made with 1 tsp stock powder
Salt and black pepper
Chilli oil, to serve
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the butternut squash cubes. Cook, covered, over a gentle heat for 10 minutes, until the butternut squash is softening, stirring from time to time: don’t let it get brown.
2. Add 500ml (18fl oz) of the stock, bring to the boil, and simmer until the squash is tender: about 15 minutes.
3. Blend the soup with a hand-held blender or in a food processor until smooth. Add more stock if necessary to get the consistency you like; reheat as necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle the soup into warm bowls, swirl with chilli oil, and serve.
Tip: To roast a butternut squash, pierce it with a skewer or pointed knife in several places, rub the skin all over with olive oil and bake it in a roasting tin at 190°C (375°F), Gas 5 for about 1–1¼ hours, or until you can easily pierce it with a knife. Cool, or use straight away, as you please. To make the soup, open up the squash, remove the seeds, strings and stalk end, then whizz the pieces of squash in a food processor, or in a pan, with a hand-held blender, until smooth. Proceed with the recipe as above, from the point at which you add the water. If you use an organic butternut squash, and have a good blender, it’s fine to include the skin when you purée it.
If you’re looking for a quick soup this one is hard to beat. Although it can be made all year round, it has a refreshing summery flavour.
Serves 4
15g (½oz) butter
1 onion, chopped
125g (4½oz) potato, diced
450g (1lb) frozen petits pois
4–5 sprigs of mint
About 1 litre (1¾ pints) vegetable stock, made with 1–2 tsp stock powder
Salt and black pepper
1 lemon, halved
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion and potato for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the petits pois, the leaves from the mint sprigs and most of the stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 10–15 minutes or until the potato and onion are tender.
3. Blend the soup, then pour it through a sieve back into the pan. Thin with a little extra water if you like, then reheat gently. Season well with salt and pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice.
Mango and Red Chilli Salad
A luscious marriage of contrasting colours, flavours and textures: soft, sweet mango with sharp, fragrant lime, a kick of red chilli, a crunch of salty roasted cashew nuts, a few lettuce and wild rocket leaves. Easy to make, pretty to look at, lovely to eat.
Serves 2
Vegan
1 large, juicy mango
1 lime
½ mild red chilli or a few pinches of dried red chilli flakes
A few leaves from a round lettuce
2 handfuls wild rocket leaves
50g (2oz) salted roasted cashew nuts
1. Cut the two cheeks of the mango about 5mm (¼in) each side of the stalk; then cut off the peel and cut the flesh into chunky bite-size pieces.
2. Pare the zest of the lime into some long thin strands, using a zester if you have one, or else a fine grater. Squeeze out the juice.
3. Deseed the chilli and cut into thin slices or rounds.
4. Mix the mango chunks with the lime zest and chilli (keeping some slivers of each back to use as decoration) then add enough of the lime juice to make it the right degree of sharpness for you.
5. Place some lettuce and rocket leaves on each serving plate, then arrange the chunks of mango and the cashews on top, to make an attractive, colourful heap, decorating with the reserved lime zest and chilli.
Tip: A zester is a gadget you can buy cheaply from a kitchen shop and is well worth having as you can make lovely thin strands of citrus peel quickly and easily.
Grilled Chicory and Fennel with Tomato Marinade
This shows just how delicious vegetables can be, even when cooked quite