A delicious and nutritious soup that will keep the winter bugs at bay and still taste yummy. Super simple and easy to adapt. Instant Pot and stovetop instructions. Vegan, gluten and sugar free.
- 2 carrots*, finely diced
- 1 courgette (zucchini), finely diced
- 1 onion, red or white, finely diced
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 1 large sweet potato, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 150 g (1 cup) frozen peas
- several handfuls of fresh spinach, chard or kale, roughly chopped
- enough stock (veg or bone broth) to cover (about 3-4 cups/750ml-1l)**
- 1 tablespoon garam masala or mild curry powder***
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Bung everything in the Instant Pot (making sure that it doesn't go over the MAX line) and put on "Soup" or "Manual"/"Pressure Cook" setting for 20 minutes. Move valve to venting for quick release of pressure, then blitz and serve hot on its own or with some crusty bread and chunks of cheese.
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For the stove top version, soften all the veg except the peas, spinach and garlic in a little olive or coconut oil in a large stock pot or deep pan for about 10 minutes, then add the garlic for 1 minute. Stir through the garam masala then pour over the stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes or until all of the veg is soft. Add the peas and spinach and cook for another 2-3 minutes, then take off the heat and blitz with a hand-held blender (or very carefully blend in batches in a food processor or blender - be really carefully with the soup if doing this while it's hot). Serve as above.
* No carrots? Try parsnips or more sweet potato. No onion? Try a leek. No cauliflower? Broccoli will do. No sweet potato? How about some squash or pumpkin? No peas - why not skip them or use some cooked white beans?
**If the soup is too thick at the end of cooking and blitzing, thin with more stock. It's better to start with less stock and add more at the end, but if you find it's too thin at the end of cooking and blitzing, there are ways to thicken it. The simplest is just to return the soup to the stove with 1-2 peeled and chopped white potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, then blitzing. It naturally thickens the soup. In a pinch if you are in a hurry, you can always mix 1-2 tablespoons of the soup in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder or cornflour (cornstarch), mix to a paste, then return to the pot of soup and simmer until thick.
***Not a curry flavour fan? Try using 1 tablespoon of brown miso paste in its place.