Honey soy salmon parcels

My daughter cooked this salmon, about 95 per cent on her own. How great is that! I heated the oven, put the parcels in to cook, then took them out when they were cooked. That's it. So, needless to say, this is very easy for children (my daughter is 10) to make with minimal supervision. And as an added bonus, it was very tasty and filling. We all enjoyed it very much.

What you will need

Serves four

Four pieces of salmon, skin off, about 100g each
2 cups fresh or frozen beans
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small finger of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Olive oil

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

On an oven tray, lay four pieces of aluminium foil, approximately 20cm x 20cm. Lightly grease each sheet with some oil, using a pasty brush. Gently turn up the edges of each piece of foil so that your sauce will not run out when you pour it over.

If using fresh beans, top and tail them. If using frozen vegetables, put the beans and peas in a colander and run some warm water over them in the sink, to defrost them. Drain well of excess water. Divide the vegetables evenly between the sheets of foil (place in the middle). Carefully place the fish pieces on top of the vegetables.

In a small bowl, mix the honey and soy sauce with a spoon until the honey is dissolved.

Drizzle this over the fish and vegetables. Sprinkle some ginger over the top of the fish (this is optional, you may not like ginger pieces).

Now close the salmon parcels, bringing the left and right sides of the foil together over the fish. Crimp together so it will not pull apart. Fold up the remaining sides into the middle of the parcel so that the sauce will not run out and the steam will be tapped inside.

Place into the oven and cook for 25 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before opening (watch out for the steam). Serve to the table in the parcels. Serve with some cooked rice or noodles.

Sweet potato, cauliflower and red lentil soup

Now that there cooler weather is here, a big bowl of beautiful soup can take away those chills and those pesky belly rumbles too.                                                                               There are so many reasons to make your own soup; I find that making your own batch of soup is lighter on the pocket, because there are less expensive ingredients like meat in a soup that in a non-soup dish; it is an excellent and palatable way to use up 'past-their-prime' vegetables; it's relatively quick to make; it's healthy and you can stretch soup further to feed more people by serving it with bread or cheese.

Here's my recipe for a filling vegetable soup featuring red lentils; the yummy soup is high in protein and fibre and a great way to help kids eat vegetables that they otherwise might not, like cauliflower.

What you will need

Serves four

1 cauliflower, core and leaves removed, broken into small florets

1kg sweet potato (about 3 medium or 2 large), peeled and chopped into large chunks

1 large onion, peeled and roughly diced

250g dried red lentils

1.5L chicken or vegetable stock (hot)

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1 olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

Bread, chopped basil and natural yoghurt to serve

What to do

Place a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the oil, onion and garlic and gently cook until the onion is translucent. Add the lentils, mix well with the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Then add the sweet potato, cauliflower and marjoram, Mix well to combine. Pour over the hot stock. Stir gently and increase the heat until the soup comes to a rapid simmer. Reduce the heat to low so that the soup is gently simmering, pop the lid on the pot and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. It is ready once the sweet potato and cauliflower is falling apart and very soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat. I preferred this as a smooth soup so I blended it with my stick blender until all the lumps were vitamised. But you can leave it as is with chunks if you prefer. If the soup is too thick for you, you can add more stock, water or milk to thin it out.

Serve warm with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some fresh bread. Sprinkle over some chopped fresh basil leaves or some grated cheese if you like.

Baked eggplant with feta, tomatoes and herbs

Yes, I admit it, I have a thing for eggplant. I am seeing someone about it - my green grocer. He's very helpful.

Here is another way to cook this most wonderful fruit (yes, it is a fruit!)

Broccoli with mushrooms and bacon

It is mushroom season in Europe at the moment. Due to a wetter-than-normal summer, there is a plentiful supply of many types of mushrooms.

In this recipe, I've used Eierschwammerl, a mushroom type native to central Europe, but you could use whatever mushrooms you have handy.

The Eierschwammerl have a short season, between July and October, depending on the weather. For this reason they can be expensive, unless you know where to go mushroom hunting to pick some for free. But the wonderful flavour and texture of these mushrooms is unlike anything I've ever had, so well worth the expense. A small amount of these mushrooms go a long way too as they are quite strong in flavour, but generally hold their shape quite well once cooked.

They go best in a creamy sauce for meat, game or bread dumplings (knodel). But I think this combination with broccoli and bacon is rather nice too.

Banana ice cream sundae

Very quick little recipe/idea for a dessert, or afternoon special treat.

This ice cream sundae was my little treat on a Sunday afternoon, after having a marvelous time at a friend's birthday party the evening before. I needed a little pick-me-up (as you do) and as the weather was hot and sticky, this cool treat hit the spot.

Spaghetti nests

This idea is borrowed - thanks Barb! This is really a serving idea, rather than a recipe, but if you have children this will go down a treat. It's also an excellent way to use up extra pasta - even if said pasta is a bit dried up and stuck together.

Grilled chicken, haloumi and zucchini salad

I just uploaded this picture, and it makes me want to cook this dish right now and eat it. Maybe I'll make it for lunch.

I made this for the man-of-the-house and myself for our evening meal a few nights ago. Luckily I happened to have lots of yummy ingredients in the fridge and pantry that I was able to combine in this salad, such as haloumi cheese, olives and ripe avocado - three of my very favourite foods to eat. 

I think maybe I had a hankering to eat something green; sometimes that happens to me, I just need to sit and eat a large bowl of salad. Maybe it is my body's way of getting the vitamins and minerals I need. Either way, this salad hit to spot. I added in some fresh peppermint and basil and made a lemony dressing really add some 'zing' to the flavours. Very, very tasty indeed.

Meatloaf

This is a 'feed a crowd' dish. And there's not too much effort involved. The oven does most of the work for you. 

I think you could make this meatloaf after work and have on the table in an hour. Or make it the night before and heat slowly in the oven the next night. Or make a double batch and freeze one uncooked meatloaf for cooking later. 

In our house it is definitely a crowd pleaser, for the young and the not-so-young.

I served the meatloaf with warmed sauerkraut. If you don't like sauerkraut, a simple mashed potato compliments the meatloaf just as well.

Braised pork with potatoes and fennel

When I was small, the smell of fresh fennel was highly disagreeable to me.

Actually, I still find the smell of the green, ferny bits of the fennel very overpowering. I think it must be the aniseed smell, not my favourite at all.

However, I always looked at recipes that used fennel and thought that it must be alright as people seem to eat it and like it.

I have had a conversion to fennel in the last few years. You may say I have seen the 'fennel light'. I now really like the fresh, crunchy, almost sweet flavour of this vegetable. I have been known to make a huge bowl of finely sliced fennel with a lemon dressing and gobble this up for lunch!

I have not done much 'cooking' with fennel, preferring to have it raw in salads etc, but in the colder weather of a few weeks back, I threw some fennel into the baking dish when I made this roasted pork shoulder. The result was lovely. The roast fennel became quite sweet, and the texture was lovely and soft, similar to roasted celery. And the juices from the fennel permeated the potatoes and the jus for the meat.

The little people ate it, which I was pleased about, although one asked, "Mum, what is this?"
To which I replied," It's fennel and it's great, eat it up." Can argue with that, can you!

Baked sticky chicken wings

Yum alert! Sticky finger food is so good, if a little messy. But that's what finger bowls are for!

These sticky chicken wings are easy to make, inexpensive and everyone loves them. That ticks all the boxes at my house. Enjoy these while watching your favourite footy team go around with a cold beer. Bliss!

Spaghetti with pork and mushroom sauce

Sometimes life is just so busy and hectic, isn't it!
Is it because we make it that way, or is that just how modern life is I wonder? Some evenings, I look at the clock at dinner time and think, "Ughhh, I have no inspiration for cooking tonight." Or I have no energy or a combination of both.

This pork and spaghetti dish was what I made on a night when I had no inspiration, was running late, and would have just loved to sit on the couch with a glass of wine and a cheese platter! (that would count as dinner right?)

There was microwave defrosting of meat involved in this recipe, which I don't generally like to do but when needs must........

A quick whip up of a mushroom sauce, a bit of spaghetti, grill some pork and a salad, and there it is. Everyone satisfied, fed, job done. Then I sat on the couch with a glass of wine and put my feet up.

Creamy chicken, bacon and tomato bake

On a cold night, we devoured this simple baked chicken dish.

The flavours were wonderful, from the tender chicken pieces, the crispy bacon, and the herbie, creamy sauce.

I cut up a whole chicken, but this dish would work equally as well (and be a little bit less fussing about) if you used thigh cutlets or drumsticks.

I served this with some steamed potatoes and green beans, but you could also pair it with rice, cous cous or even some crusty bread.

Whatever you have it with, don't waste any of the sauce, as it is super tasty.

Don't be worried if the sauce has a slightly 'separated' look when you bring it from the oven. Once you serve the dish, the sauce ingredients will mix together and it will look and taste delicious.

Asian-style omelette

 

This was our Saturday morning breakfast; omelettes filled with left-over roasted chicken, grated carrot, eschallots, lots of fresh basil and some Asian flavourings - soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice.

These were quick to whip up, very tasty and not a refined carbohydrate in sight, so they are Paleo diet friendly. Man-of-the-house thought I could have added a little fresh chilli to boost the Asian flavours contained in the omelette. Chilli is a bit much for me first thing, but certainly chilli would have been good if this was a lunch or quick dinner dish. Serve with a side salad or some vegetables and dinner or lunch would be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

You could use any ingredients you like to fill these omelettes such as grated zucchini,chopped onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, left-over roast vegetables and meats, ham or salami, roasted capsicum or eggplant.

I tried to keep this omelette on the lighter side so I didn't use cheese/dairy products but you could if you like.

What you'll need

Made 2 medium-sized omelettes

5 medium-sized eggs

1/2 cup water or milk

1 cup roasted chicken meat - chopped or shredded

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

1/2 lime 

Soy sauce and fish sauce (I used a few sloshes on each omelette)

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

What to do

Heat a good non-stick pan or omelette pan over medium heat. Add one teaspoon of oil. Spread the oil to coat the pan.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly with a fork. Add the water or milk and mix to combine.

Pour half the egg mixture into the pan and swirl the pan to coat the bottom (so the egg mixture evenly coats the bottom of the pan).

Now, sprinkle half your ingredients into the centre of the omelette in a line down the middle (see the top picture). Cook the omelette until you can see that the egg is set (not runny) and the ingredients have warmed through. Splosh on a little soy and fish sauce and squeeze some lime over omelette.

Using an egg flip, lift up one side of the omelette and flip gently into the centre. Press it down slightly to keep it there. Repeat with the other side of the omelette. 

Slide the omelette gently on a plate and serve immediately or keep warm while you make the second omelette. Repeat the above process for the second omelette.

Quinoa and roasted pumpkin salad

I'll admit it, I am a slow adapter of new things; products, technology etc. I am one of those people who say, 'Oh yes, sounds good, I'll wait a couple of years until I try or buy.' I am even a little slow trying out new food ingredients. For example, I ate quinoa (pronounced kin-wah) for the first time two weeks ago.

I know that this new food has been around for a few years, and I have heard lots about it, read recipes about it and heard friends talk about using it, but it was not for me until two weeks ago. I decided to give quinoa a go after talking to my Mum, who has used it to make a version of fried rice (minus the rice of course).  

Our first taste of quinoa was as a plain side dish accompanying a chicken curry. The verdict from the family was good and yummy. The next recipe we tried was this roasted pumpkin salad. I made a chilli and green olive dressing, and sprinkled some fresh-cracked walnuts over the top. The textures were wonderful, squishy and crunchy, and nutty and creamy.

I find that quinoa doesn't sit in your stomach as heavily as some other carbohydrates, such as rice or pasta. Therefore, I will be adding quinoa as a regular ingredient to my cooking repertoire. Give it a try if you haven't already. 

What you'll need

Serves four to six people as a side dish

For the salad

Half a medium butternut (or whatever variety you have) pumpkin, skinned, deseeded and cut into rough 2cm cubes. I had about 2 cups-full of pumpkin to cook.

250g quinoa, cooked according to packet instructions

Vegetable oil for roasting

Salt and pepper

For the dressing

2 tablespoons green olive paste or tapenade

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 small red or yellow chillis, finely chopped

To serve

1/2 cup roughly-chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon fresh, finely-chopped oregano leaves

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Line a baking tin with a piece of baking paper. Place the pumpkin in a roasting tin. Drizzle pumpkin and vegetable oil (about 1 tablespoon) and season well with salt and pepper. Mix well to coat the pumpkin.

Roast until pumpkin is just soft and golden. (about 20 minutes). Remove tin from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, place the cooked quinoa and the cool pumpkin. Mix carefully, so that the pumpkin maintains its shape.

Make the dressing and season to taste. Pour over the salad.  Mix very gently to coat. Sprinkle with herbs and nuts and serve immediately.

This salad is a great accompaniment to chicken or fish. You could serve it as a main dish with some other salads or vegetable dishes. It would also be great to serve a large dish of this at a BBQ.

Eggplant Bake

We had this eggplant bake the other night. We ate it instead of pasta and with a side salad. It was very satisfying and tasty and was not too much of an effort to make.

We have been reducing our carb intake since Christmas. Please don't worry, as there will still be lots of lovely 'carby' recipes on the blog.  The man of the house and I have a bit more of a spring in our steps and are feeling good about this change in our diet.

Anyway, enough about us. Back to the recipe. I've made two versions of this eggplant dish. One was with a spicy mince with kidney beans (also used for tacos) and the other was with a plain Bolognese sauce with zucchini slices.

This dish is a good way to increase your vegetable intake - add lots of vegetables into the sauce or into the dish. Vegetables such as zucchini, pumpkin or sweet potato thickly sliced would work well. Or add some tinned sweet corn, diced carrot and celery, sliced leeks - you get the idea.

Serve the baking dish to the table and serve with a side salad for a great family dinner.

What you'll need

For basic eggplant bake, to serve two people with a little leftover.

1 large eggplant, sliced into 1cm thick slices
2 cups of homemade Bolognese sauce or 2 cups or prepared taco mince with kidney beans
1/2 cup crumbled feta
Other vegetables as you'd like. I used a zucchini, sliced lengthways.
Vegetable oil for frying.
Salt and pepper.

What to do

Heat a large pan (or two medium pans) over high heat with some vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add the eggplant slices and pan fry on both sides until golden brown and soft. The eggplant will soak up lots of the oil, but if you press it gently at the end of the cooking with a spoon while still in the pan, much of the oil will come out. Drain the eggplant well on paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Repeat the same process with whatever other vegetables you are using. The vegetables should be cooked through and soft before you add them to the baking dish.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Into the bottom of a small baking dish, place 1/2 cup of your meat sauce.  Make a layer of eggplant (or other vegetables) over the meat sauce. Add another cup of meat sauce, another layer of vegetables, then finish off with whatever meat sauce is left.

Crumble the feta over the top, and place in the oven until the sauce is bubbling and the feta is golden brown. This will take about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes, then serve to the table.

Cauliflower Soup

This is a very easy and quick soup to make; it tastes great and is very impressive to serve to the table.

Basically this is a cauliflower puree, thinned out with a little stock and cream. That's it. Recipe follows.

What you'll need

1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florettes, with most of the stalk and all leaves removed

200ml pouring cream

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups water

Salt and pepper

  

What to do

In a large pot bring the water and stock to the boil. Once boiling, add the cauliflower and cook until breaking apart (about 40 minutes). Keep the lid on. If you want a really thick soup, you can remove the lid and reduce the liquid for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Remove from the heat and cool until just warm. Using a blender stick, blend the cauliflower until smooth. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat gently to serve. I served my soup sprinkled with some slivered almonds, crispy prosciutto pieces, fresh torn basil and crusty bread rolls. But it also goes beautifully with some crumbled goats cheese, freshly grilled scallops or prawns, some freshly chopped mint or just a sprinkle of fresh pepper.

Gyoza (Japanese dumplings)

These little parcels are rather addictive. They are gyoza, or Japanese dumplings. I could sit down and eat a whole plate full and the little people are rather fond of them also. 

I prefer steamed gyoza but the 'pot-sticker' variety cooked in a frying pan and then steamed are also wonderful. The slippery wrappers are so yummy, and you can fill the gyoza with anything you like. The version above was made with minced prawns and some miso paste. But gyoza work really well with other seafoods such as scallops, minced chicken or pork and even vegetables such as sweet potato. 

The best part about this recipe is most of the hard work is done for you; the wrapper pastry is super cheap and can be found at any Asian shop or many supermarkets. All you have to do is whip up a bit of filling, squish the pastry together with a little water, then steam. Only problem is that you can never make enough; my family always want more!

This is an impressive dish to serve at a dinner party. You can prepare the gyoza beforehand and keep them in an air-tight container in the freezer until ready to cook. Your guests will think you are a super-chef! 

What you'll need

Serves six people as an entree, makes 30 gyoza

200g minced green prawn meat

1 tablespoon red miso paste, thinned with a teaspoon of warm water to make a thick paste

1 packet gow gee wrappers, containing 30 wrappers

What to do

Prepare the filling. Mix the miso paste with the prawn meat in a bowl.
Set aside. Place a clean tea towel on your work surface.

Open the packet of gow gee wrappers and peel off, one at a time. Be gentle, as the wrappers are fragile and can stretch and rip (which you don't want). Place the wrappers on your tea towel. (If you can't fit them all, place out half then do the rest later.)

Working quickly (or they will dry out), place 1 teaspoon of mixture into the centre of each wrapper. Once this is done, fill a small bowl with warm water. Dip your finger into the water and then run it around the edge of the wrapper.

Now fold the wrapper in half around the filling and seal it together (see picture right). It will seal where you have wet it. You can now cook the gyoza straight away or place them in an air tight container and put in the freezer until you are ready to cook. From experience, I think the gyoza stay together better if you put them in the freezer for at least an hour before cooking.


Cooking tips: You can steam the gyoza in a steamer basket (as below), but you MUST grease the basket with some vegetable oil first, or the gyoza will stick very well to the basket. Steam for five minutes and serve immediately while hot.

You could also fry the gyoza in a little vegetable oil in frying pan over medium heat. Once they are brown on one side, pour in a cup of warm water, replace the lid and remove from the heat. The gyoza will then steam in the heat of the pan. Leave for 3 minutes, drain, then serve immediately.

Storage tips: Layer the gyoza between layers of baking paper or greaseproof paper in an air tight container with a lid. When layering, make sure you leave a little space between each gyoza, or else they will stick together. I prefer to make and cook these on the same day, but you could keep them for up to a week.

Dipping sauce tips: Serve with a dipping sauce made from soy sauce with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some wasabi.

Easy pizza fingers

Super-quick lunch idea for the blog today. 

These pizza fingers went down a treat, were quick to make and super yummy.

I made the base with focaccia, so it was just a matter of loading the topping on and putting it in the oven.

Easy and quick. Just the thing for lunch on a cold day. 

After I made this I remembered that many years ago, I worked in a restaurant that had pizza fingers on the menu. I think that it was the most popular thing on the menu and they were so great. Memories of long ago......

What you'll need

* Serves three or four for lunch with a side salad.

Two loaves of focaccia, approx 30cm x 20cm. You can use plain or buy with flavours such as garlic or herbs.
4 tbls tomato paste or pizza sauce
200g sliced meat, I used salami
Handful of seedless olives
200mg fresh mozzarella (or two cups grated cheese of your choice)

What to do

Place two tablespoons of the tomato sauce onto each piece of focaccia, spreading it right to the edge.

Next put the cheese, then sliced meat, then press the olives into the top.

Place into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the other toppings are slightly browned.

Once cooked, removed from the oven and let sit for a few minutes to let the cheese cool down a little. Then slice with a sharp knife into 5cm wide fingers.

Serve immediately with a big napkin for your fingers! No knives and forks required here people.

Asian coconut soup with chicken meatballs

This was a bit of a different dinner for us on a Friday night. My inspiration came from some fresh chicken mince that I saw at the supermarket, and the very grey and misty weather. I wanted to use the chicken mince in a different way, rather than a pasta sauce or plain meatballs.

I was on the way to the local Asian food shop, which is such a fantastic place to find some cooking inspiration. So, a pack of limes, some coconut milk, fresh udon noodles and some laska paste, and wallah, an Asian coconut soup with chicken meatballs. And it was so good.

I went a bit easy on the spice in the soup, as I wanted the children to eat this without yelling ,'my mouth is burning Mum!' So I served some fresh chilli on the table for the man-of-the-house and I to add a bit of spice ourselves.

I also made the meatballs in advance and cooked them in a frying pan, so all I had to do was plop them into the soup at the end. No messy fussing about cooking them in the soup. This was a lovely, creamy soup with a little spice. The noodles and meatballs filled everyone up and the crunchy snowpeas added some lovely colour and texture. Thumbs up from everyone in the house.

What you'll need

Serves four large bowls.

For the meatballs
500g chicken mince
1 tblsp corn flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, minced
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 tblsp fish sauce

For the soup
2 x 400ml cans of coconut milk
1 tblsp laksa paste (use more if you'd like it spicy)
Juice of one lime. If your lime is not very juicy, use two limes
1 chicken stock cube
1 tblsp fish sauce
1 can water (use the empty coconut milk can)
400g fresh udon noodles
Handful of fresh snowpeas
2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled

Serve with fresh chopped chillis, a little soy sauce and some chopped fresh mint.

What to do

Make the meatballs
In a bowl add all the meatball ingredients as above. Mix well with clean hands. Using a teaspoon, scoop out small balls of mince, and with wet hands, roll into balls. Place the balls onto a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Make the soup
Heat a soup pot on medium heat. Add the laksa paste and stir until fragrant. Then add the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, stock cube and water. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup for 15 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning once for approximately 10 minutes, until cooked through.

Add the udon noodles to the soup, and break apart gently with a fork. You'll only need to cook them for about 5 minutes at a gentle simmer. Just before serving, add the snowpeas and let cook in the soup for a few minutes.

Assemble the soup into the bowls. Add about 5 - 7 meatballs per bowl, use a spaghetti serving spoon to scoop some noodles and snowpeas from the soup pot. Then use a ladle to pour the soup liquid into the bowl. The liquid should cover most of the ingredients. Finally, halve the boiled eggs, and place one half in each bowl.

Eat while hot, and sprinkle with some fresh chilli, mint soy sauce and lime to squeeze. So tasty and satisfying on a cold evening.

Pumpkin Soup

Here's a warming, healthy and delicious pumpkin soup recipe. The temperatures have taken a sudden dip, so I made a huge pot of this soup during the week. I gave half to someone who's a bit sick, and the rest we ate to warm us up on a grey day.

Basically this soup is vegetable puree, which you can then make thinner with some water or milk or leave as thick as you like. Make a double batch as it freezes very well. Enjoy with a little natural yoghurt and crispy prosciutto or a sprinkle of toasted nuts on top. It is also wonderful with some curry powder added to the mix and a cup of coconut milk poured in at the end. And always eat with some crusty bread.

What you'll need

Serves many bowls - approximately 8  -10 people, with some leftover to freeze.

2kg butternut pumpkin, de-seeded, peeled and chopped into large pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 chicken stock cubes
1 tlbsp vegetable oil
Water
Salt and pepper

Natural yoghurt to serve

What to do

Heat the vegetable oil in a very large soup pot, over medium heat.

Once the oil is hot, add the pumpkin and saute for approximately 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the pumpkin starts to brown slightly. Add the garlic, potatoes, carrots and crumble in the chicken stock cubes.
Now pour in enough water to cover all the ingredients.

Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Place the lid on the pot and let the vegetables cook until very soft (approximately 60 to 90 minutes.) Season well towards the end of the cooking time.

Let cool, then blend the soup, either with a stick blender or food processor. I like a smooth soup, so I blend it until there are no lumps.

Return to the cooking pot to heat. If you want to make the soup a little thinner, you can add a cup or two of water or milk.

Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some crusty bread.