A Soup Recipe for Spring
What better way to celebrate the coming of a new season than by cooking up a spring soup with all of nature’s freshest ingredients? Spring veg is already finding its way into veggie boxes, farmer’s markets and on to the shelves, with a whole lot more choice now ready to fill our baskets, and our bellies!
Cauliflower, Almond & Rainbow Chard Soup
In season right now is a whole host of vegetables, including, spring greens, radishes, watercress, purple sprouting broccoli and colourful rainbow and Swiss chard.
With the appearance of new produce we’re feeling inspired to dust down the cookbooks and get a bit more creative in the kitchen.
A bowl of something warm is still very much in need, so here’s our current favourite soup recipe that uses plenty of those new season spring vegetables.
Suitable for vegans, yet tasting ridiculously creamy, it’s filling, cheap to make and healthy too. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cauliflower, broken into florets
2 leeks, sliced
100g ground almonds
Half teaspoon nutmeg
1.5 pints vegetable stock
Large handful rainbow chard, chopped roughly
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
(Serves 4)
METHOD:
1. Warm a glug of olive oil in a large pan and soften the leeks and cauliflower florets.
2. Add the almonds and nutmeg, stir well.
3. Pour on the stock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and leave to simmer until the cauliflower is soft.
4. Blend until smooth, season to taste.
5. Warm another glug of olive oil in a frying pan and stir in the chard, move it around the pan quickly to allow it to wilt and crisp a little, sprinkle with salt.
6. Divide the soup between bowls and garnish with helpings of chard.
Want to get the little ones involved in a bit of springtime cheffery? While your soup is simmering, take some pots and pans out into the garden and make some pretend soup just for them with things you can find in the flowerbeds. They’ll have great fun, and it’ll keep little hands busy while yours are chopping chard. Just make sure they know not to taste their flower-filled concoction – it’s just for play, not to eat!
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