Broccoli Soup

Since May my hubby has been on a major health kick. Without even really thinking about it, he has become one of the people who are on those "whole food diets" - but he doesn't call it that, and doesn't flounce about with it and lets himself have a day off here and there to indulge. He has also been lifting and heading out to the gym on a fairly consistent basis. Really, I have to applaud him. Two months and quite a few more kilos lighter he has really been the driving force behind us eating a whole lot better (excepting Sunday Night Desserts!)

With India a mere 5 HOURS away (!!!) we are preparing ourselves, and our delicate first world digestive systems, for 14 days of NO fresh fruit and veg. We are saying goodbye to the fresh stuff because... well, according to our very cheery doctor, it will attempt to kill us. Ever seen Attack of the Kill Tomatoes? Apparently cholera isn't as hilarious as a badly scripted late 70s film.

Each week more and more vegetables have been invading our lives for the better and, as much as I love it, occasionally, just the thought of crunching and munching away on all that green makes me feel ....a little green.  Welcome Broccoli Soup.

 Broccoli Soup
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon oil
1/2 brown onion, sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried)
1/2 teaspoon parsley (fresh or dried)
4 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup water
2 cups vegetable stock
dash of milk and cream
pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and the oil. Add the onion and the celery and sauté until softened.

Add the garlic, herbs, broccoli, water and stock. Bring to the boil and then let simmer until broccoli has softened.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool before blending. Blend in batches (include liquid with broccoli in each batch). Once blended and smooth add in milk/cream if you wish and add pepper to taste.

Reheat soup if necessary. Soup keeps in the fridge for about 3 days and freezes well.


Have a lovely 2 weeks, I'm looking forward to some Indian sweets!

the owl & the pussy cat went to sea...

My New Year’s Resolution was not so much “lose weight” or “go on a diet” but “make a lifestyle change for the better”. So far we have beenpretty good. There have been a few nights of wine and cheese binges but we are making progress.

Where we live fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to come by and are often very expensive. For a while last year we were relying solely on frozen vegetables because they were cheaper and better quality than the vegetables available at the shops.

We have ended up with a bit of a build up of packets of frozen vegetables as this year we have had better access to fresh foods. So, not only to reduce our amount of frozen goods, but also for our new healthy lifestyle choices, I decided to start making some vegetable soups one or two nights a week.

Tonight was pea soup. My favourite colour is green. There’s nothingmore excitin

g than seeing the, normally hated, peas turn into a beautiful pureed harlequin paste.

So easy and delicious, Pea Soup is an all rounder and light enough to enjoy even on a hot day. Start off with some peas – I defrosted the frozen ones the night before so they were nice and soft. I put a cup of vegetable stock and about a cup of peas into the blender and pureed. It was very watery so I added in an extra cup or so of peas and pureed some more. It was the perfect consistency.

I put the liquid in a pot and sat it on the stove to heat, adding pepper, onion salt and a dash of cream.

MeanwhileI made some large croutonbread triangles with a bit of oil, butter and garlic in a frying pan.

This may have somewhat diminished the ‘health’ factor of the meal but it was worth it! The soup

was so delicious with just the right amount of ‘liquid chewiness’ that is sometimes hard to achieve– hopefully I can recreate this with some more of our frozen vegetables soon.