Comfy Hearty Winter Food

With the winter well and truly upon us, I wanted to share one of my favourite meals. This is so versatile can have for lunch or dinner. Great way your five a day, rich in protein, iron and fibre. All the nutritious goodness in a bowl. Yes Soup…

Here is a recipe of one my favourites soup. Easy to cook and home and can be frozen in portions for lunch or dinner (tea as its know up north).

LENTIL AND VEGETABLE SOUP

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
225 g (8 oz) red lentils
1 1/2 litre (3 pints) vegetable stock or 5 tsp Swiss vegetable Bouillon dissolved in 1 litre water
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 potatoes or sweet potatoes, diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
225 g ( 8oz) swede/turnips/parsnips/courgettes/cauliflower/celery/leek (this is optional but for it is essential when in season)

How
1 Place the lentils in a large saucepan with the vegetable stock and boil for 10 minuts. Alternatively, cook in a pressure cooker (worth investing) for 3 minutes then release.
2 Add all the vegetables, bring back to the boil and simmer for a further 15-20 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are soft (or cook in the pressure cooker fro a further 3 minutes).
3 Season with sea salt and pepper.
4 For a smooth soup, liquidise the soup in a blender. For a thick soup, blend half the soup in the blender and return to the pan. And for a chunky soup, serve straight from the saucepan.

Per serving
Energy   195kcal
Protein 14g 28% energy
Fat 0.9g 4% energy
Carbohydrate 35g 68% energy
Fibre 3.7g