Winter solstice soup

Adapted from Rita Balshaw, Hippies in the City

This velvity winter soup combines hearty vegetables with aromatic herbs and spices, which are believed to have properties which boost the immune system.

Time

1 hour 15 minutes total: 25 minutes attended, 50 minutes unattended

Storage notes

Keeps in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 5 days

Difficulty

very easy

Yield

2400 g (servings 6 )

Ingredients

Weight

Volume

Procedure

Oil, rice bran

14 g

1 tbsp

Heat in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Onion, thinly sliced

140 g

1 regular

Garlic, thinly sliced

6 g

2 cloves

Ginger, thinly sliced

12 g

1 thumb-sized

Add to pan and sauté until lightly golden, about 8 minutes.

Water, filtered

1000 g

1 litre/quart

Sweet potato, chopped into 1" / 2.5 cm cubes

1200 g

4 regular

Carrots, roughly chopped

400 g

4 regular

Add to pan. Cover and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Coriander, fresh, roughly chopped

15 g

1 bunch

Sea salt

6 g

1½ tsp

Tamari

20 g

4 tsp

Cashew butter

12 g

2 tsp

Cinnamon, ground

2 g

1 tsp

Turmeric, ground

6 g

1 tsp

(Optional) Black pepper, freshly cracked (see note)

1.6 g

1 tsp

Add to pan, cover and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Caution: hot! Process, in batches, to a fine purée using a stick blender, about 3 minutes.

Sesame seeds, lightly ground

7 g

1 tbsp

Coconut cream

50 g

3 tbsp

Coriander leaves, chopped (optional)

4 g

2 tsp

Garnish.

Original: 2014. Adapted: 2014.

Notes

When processing the purée in step 6, allow the mixture to cool slightly if using a blender and work in batches if your blender is not large enough to hold all the liquid comfortably with room to spare. It will take around 2 minutes to achieve the right consistency.

B The ginger and pepper can make the dish boldly peppery. Consider leaving it out if your serving to guests.

We have made a modernist version of this with great success. We simply combined everything in sous vide bags, except the water, and cooked at 85°C / 185°F for 1 hour 30 minutes—no sauté B. We then added boiling water to the blender and processed for two minutes. In the domestic setting, we had to use four bags and blend in two batches. The flavours were lovely and clean, thought the pepperyness of the dish was pronounced. This would come from the ginger and the black pepper. It was not a bad thing—we liked it—but it might not be to everyone’s taste. We’ve modified the ingredient specification with an ‘(Optional)’ tag to remind us of this effect.

D We use all parts of the coriander in this dish—leaves, stem and root. They are all great. We often use the root and lower stem because these parts of the coriander are often discarded.

Making ahead

Prepare the vegetables and store in an air-tight container in the fridge until required.

Food pairings

Crusty baguette. Garlic croutons.

Nutrition

Serving size 400 g; calories 362.8 kcal, kilojoules 1516.5 kJ, protein 7 g, carbohydrates 54.6 g, sugar 16.1 g, fat 9.2 g, saturated fat 4.3 g, unsaturated fat 4.8 g, trans fat 0 g, fiber 11.7 g, cholesterol 0 mg,

Type soup

Author bhsimon

Yield

Servings

Serving size 400 g

Serve	Per serve
Energy (kcal)	362.8
Energy (kJ)	1516.5
Protein (g)	7
Fat (g)	9.2
Carbs (g)	54.6
Sugars (g)	16.1
Fiber (g)	11.7
Sodium (mg)	930.7
Cholesterol (mg)	0

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