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This warming winter soup is a variation on HFW's parsnip and ginger soup (River Cottage Veg Everyday). I added carrots and cut down on the spices to give a more subtle flavour as favoured by my parsnip-disliking family! This is another useful for using up leftover veg and costs just a few pence per portion...any combination of root vegetables would work well.
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil or butter
- 1 large onion or leek
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cored
- 4 large carrots, peeled
- 1 medium potato, peeled
- 1 litre/1¾ pts hot vegetable stock (I used a veg Oxo cube)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger or a good pinch of ground ginger
- A good pinch of ground cumin
- Black pepper to taste
- A little double cream to serve, optional
Roughly chop the vegetables into chunks.
Heat the oil/butter in a large pan.
Add the onions and cook gently for a few minutes.
Add all of the remaining vegetables and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Add the spices (if using) and the vegetable stock.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the vegetable are tender.
Blend until smooth and then return to the heat for a couple of minutes.
Swirl with a little double cream before serving (optional).
Suitable for freezing
Top Tips: This soup is easily veganised by leaving out the dairy ingredients.
To adapt for babies and toddlers, make using water or a low-salt vegetable boullion. Omit or reduce the spices. Blend, then remove the children's portions. Return to the heat and add the remaining spices. Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes before serving, while the children's portions cool.
This recipe is my entry to Lisa's Kitchen leftover-themed No Croutons Required.
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This is my twist on a classic carrot and coriander soup, which I've called sunshine soup due to it's colour. I used various orange coloured, sweet tasting vegetables plus good old celery, onion and garlic to balance the sweetness. This soup is a great way to get several 5-a-day portions of vegetables down your kids at once!
- 4-6 carrots
- 1 small sweet potato
- 1 orange or yellow bell pepper
- 150g-200g/6-8oz butternut squash
- 2 sticks of celery
- 1 onion
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 1litre/1¾ pt hot vegetable stock (made with a stock cube)
- 25g/1oz dried red lentils
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- black pepper to taste
- fresh chopped coriander/cilantro to serve
Peel and chop the vegetables into chunks.
Fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil, until soft.
Add all of the other veg and the spices to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.
Pour in the stock and bring up to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for around 20-30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft.
Liquidise in a blender until smooth.
Suitable for freezing.
Alternative: Make a smaller quantity of soup, using water instead of stock and omitting the pepper, for a tasty baby-food. Leave the vegetables in chunks, mash or purée depending on the age of your baby.
This post is part of the #FaveFamilyRecipes Competition with BritMums and Tilda Rice. Every pack sold will provide a meal to an expectant mum in need in support of the World Food Programme’s Mothers Helping Mothers initiative in Bangladesh.
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So, weaning's in the news again. Just after we all thought that there was an internationally agreed 'official' recommended age to wean, the blooming scientists have gone and changed their minds!
When my girls were babies, baby-led weaning was unheard of and the recommended weaning age had just gone up from 3 to 4 months. A couple of years later it had jumped to 6 months, making some of us 'early weaners' feel like we'd harmed our babies! Meanwhile nans and grans were still advising to wean at 6-10 weeks and put a bit of rusk or baby rice in baby's bottle to help baby sleep through the night ("Well, it never did you any harm!")
It looks like we all need to follow our own common sense and wean sometime after 4 months, providing baby is showing the signs of being ready to wean: Trying or able to sit up, wanting to feed more regularly, wanting to chew and put toys and other objects into their mouth, and reaching and grabbing accurately.
Here are a few ideas for first foods, which my kids liked. Cook and puree or leave in chewable chunks depending on the age of your baby and your weaning approach. Add baby rice and breast/formula milk if wanted.
Make up in batches and freeze in little pots or ice cube trays. Transfer into air-tight bags or plastic tubs when frozen, and label. Defrost/reheat as needed.
Savoury
Carrot & potato
Butternut squash & cauliflower
Broccoli & potato
Parsnip & sweet potato
Sweet
Apple & pear
Banana
Peach & pear
Date & apple
For more information and recipes, visit the Vegetarian Society or NHS websites.
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