(Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Meat-Free | Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) I’ve been looking for new ways to use my winter veggies from my Kent Veg Box. This recipe was a real find because the ingredients called for exactly what was in my veg box! Also, if you have roasted veg left from Christmas, this soup might help you find a new way to use the leftovers. I especially like the homemade cashew cream that this soup calls for. What a great substitute for normal cream! I ran out of vegetable broth when I made this so I decided to let my soup be a little thicker than originally called for, but you can do whatever you want!

FYI: You’ll have to soak your cashews for a few hours before you start making the soup. The recipe says to soak them for 3-4 hours. I soaked mine for almost 2, and it was fine!

Ingredients

• 100g (3/4 cup) cashews
• 400g leek (1 large leek)
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped (I added this to original recipe)
• 1 small cabbage (about 1kg or 2lb)
• 2 yellow onions
• 4 tbsp rapeseed oil (or any other neutral tasting oil)
• 2 litres (8 cups) vegetable broth
• 1 tsp dried marjoram (I didn’t have this so I skipped)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Soak 100 g (3/4 cup) cashews in water for 3-4 hours or overnight.
2. Cut off the hairy end of the leek (the root part) and also discard the dark green ends. Slice the leek lengthwise, fan it open and clean it under running water. Make sure to get rid of the dirt between the individual layers. Chop the leek.
3. Wash the cabbage, cut it into quarters, and discard the core of each quarter. Chop the quarters finely.
4. Peel the onions, chop them and sauté them in rapeseed oil (I used olive oil) until they are translucent. Add leek and cabbage to the onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add the vegetable broth and the marjoram. Cook with a lid on until the vegetables are soft (about 15-30 minutes).
5. Rinse the soaked cashews and blend them with 200 ml (1 cup) of water until you get a smooth cream. Add the cream to the soup and puree it. Taste test and add salt if needed.

If you’d like to add some extra bits on top of the soup, you can boil beetroot (peel and cube it) and roast some cashews. Serve the soup hot topped with beet cubes and roasted cashew.

Enjoy and Happy Boxing Day! xxx

Source | Looking for Delights ‘Creamy Leek and Cabbage Soup with Cubed Beetroot and Roasted Cashews‘

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meat Free| Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) I’ve always wanted to be that person who whips out fresh, homemade and healthy soups on the reg(ular). But, I’m not. I rarely make soup because I basically have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to creating delightful soup that fills you up for a meal without bread. The other day, though, I had so much veg to get through before I went away for the weekend that a friend recommended I make soup. Great idea! But how? I turned to my old friends Hemsley and Hemsley who showed me the light to this gorgeous, easy recipe that’s also very filling. My boyfriend described the soup: ‘if it was packaged in M&S, I would have bought it’ –which I see as a real win, since M&S do know what’s up in the world of soup!

Ingredients

• 3 kg (6.5lb) butternut squash (I didn’t have this so I used a small pumpkin and two sweet large sweet potatoes instead!)
• 2 kg (4lbs) fresh tomatoes or passata or 3 tins of chopped or plum tomatoes
• 3 large onions, roughly chopped
• 1 whole garlic bulb
• 2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
• 4 tsp of fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 5 litres vegetable stock (more or less depending how thick you like your soups)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) or flaxseed oil, to drizzle
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Parmesan shavings (if you’re not going dairy free) and extra finely chopped rosemary leaves, to garnish (optional- if you’re feeling fancy)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (400F)
2. Halve the squash (or pumpkin in my case –along with sliced sweet potatoes) and fresh tomatoes, if using, and lay on one or two baking trays, flesh side up. Don’t bother removing seeds of squash (or pumpkin)! Add the chopped onion and whole garlic bulb. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes until the squash (or pumpkin) is tender.
3. Gently heat the ghee (or coconut oil) in a large saucepan (big enough for all soup ingredients to be in) and fry the rosemary for a few minutes. If you’re using tinned tomatoes or passata, add them now and let the tomato sauce simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add the roasted onions, roasted fresh tomatoes, if using, and any juice to the saucepan. Scoop out the squash flesh (and seeds), squeeze 6 cloves of roasted garlic out of their skins (you can use the remaining roasted garlic in sauce or dressings) and add to the pan too.
5. Cover with broth, starting with just over litre, turn up the heat and bring to a medium simmer. Simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes to let the flavours combine, adding more bone broth if it seems too thick. Blend until smooth with hand mixer and season to taste.
6. Drizzle each bowl with EVOO or flaxseed old and ad d a few parmesan shavings and some finely chopped rosemary leaves.

Tip: I froze this soup and ate it when I was back from the weekend; it worked great!

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’