Zanzibar-inspired Carrot and Coconut Soup

This Zanzibar-inspired carrot and coconut soup is delicious, creamy and tasty. My body literally screams for it in autumn when the new crop of carrots appears in supermarkets. The recipe is from a friend's cookbook, Sigrun of CafeSigrun (remember the fun I had when helping her with the manuscript?). Sigrun has travelled frequently to East-Africa and this soup was inspired by days spent on the island of Zanzibar: She was sitting with a bowl of carrot soup admiring the view of the Indian Ocean, the air filled with the aroma from the Forodhani Food Market, in the historical city of Stone Town. The soup is vegan, easy to make (you need a hand-held blender or a food processor), and it will provide you with essential vitamins and dietary fibre.

ZANZIBAR CARROT AND COCONUT SOUP

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
a small piece fresh ginger
300 g organic carrots (2 cups)
150 g sweet potatoes (¾ cup)
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 organic vegetable stock cubes
750 ml water (3 cups)
150 ml coconut milk (5 oz)
½-1 teaspoon sea/Himalayan salt
optional: pepper to taste
optional: 7-10 saffron strands

Rinse the carrots (brush if needed) and peel the other vegetables. Chop everything coarsely. (Peel or scrape the carrots if they are not organic.)

In a saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add onion and fry until tender. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a few more minutes before stirring in the curry powder (I prefer hot but mild is fine).

Stir in the carrots and sweet potatoes. Add the water and vegetable stock cubes, increase the heat and stir. Bring to the boil and stir in ½ teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer on low heat for 25-30 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the coconut milk and saffron strands. Use a hand-held blender to purée the soup until you have a smooth texture. Be careful, the soup is very hot: Hold the blender straight up and down and press the button when the bottom part of the blender is in the soup (if using a food processor/liquidizer, allow the soup to cool slightly before puréeing it in batches).

Finally, reheat gently to simmering point and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the soup with freshly baked bread or bread buns.

Uppskrift á íslensku

Lentil soup | Vegan in the house

For a spring menu, hearty soups aren't the first thing that comes to mind but here on the west coast of central Scotland the arrival of spring hit the breaks; suddenly the days turned colder with rain. Last week we finally got excellent spells of sunshine so we seem to be back on track, and the buds are rejoicing. I wanted to post this lentil soup recipe before it's too late. In the sense, out of touch with the season, especially for those who live farther south and are already enjoying fine weather and trees in bloom. In our garden a huge cherry tree is about to bloom. Its branches stretch over the patio and some even reach the main roof of the house. If I would keep our son's bedroom window open they would find their way in. I wouldn't mind but he would. I cannot wait to see the cherry tree in its full glory.

Back to the soup. In January our younger daughter, a teen of 14, decided to go vegan. My husband and I discussed between us that this was just a phase, something she needed to explore. Honestly, we thought it would last for 1-2 weeks. Apart from the smoked lamb at Christmas (Icelandic tradition), she never was much of a meat-eater. That part would be easy. Quitting eggs, however, would probably break her. Or so we thought. Our girl loved her omelettes and made her own if I served e.g. fajitas or something she didn't like. Now the month of May is almost upon us and our girl is still going strong. Still a vegan.

Consequentially, I have made some adjustments in our diet - surely baking less with eggs - and I have veganised some of my own vegetarian recipes and created new ones. What I like about her going vegan is that she is learning about nutrition and cooking, and she now enjoys certain vegetables she didn't like before. I love seeing her gaining confidence in the kitchen; she now makes uncomplicated, nutritious meals without any help. Sometimes the two of us are together in the kitchen preparing a meal that needs to be adjusted for her. For a mother, who is a foodie, those are quality moments. When the days were colder I often prepared veggie chilli or other bean stews or hearty soups for lunch that would then wait on the hob when our steadfast vegan came home from school. This green lentil soup was one of those.

[The textiles seen in the images, excluding the napkin, are by Lisa Fine: Baroda 1 in indigo (bird pattern), Lahore in apricot (floral), and Chiara in sky blue/oyster (to the right). More on Lisa Fine Textiles later.]

Whether you are a vegan or not, lentils are good for you (read about the health benefits of lentils); I think everyone should have a basic lentil recipe in their repertoire. Lentils are high in protein, dietary fibre, and iron, and a source of e.g. B1 and B6. Lentils and spices are a wonderful mix because the lentils absorb their flavour. In my opinion, herbs like bay leaf and thyme also go well with lentils. Just make sure you don't overcook them; they should keep their consistency. Soft lentils, yes. Mushy, not so much. For the vegetable broth I use the vegan organic bouillon powder from Marigold (it has less salt), but you can of course use vegetable stock cubes.

LENTIL SOUP

1 tablespoon coconut oil or light olive oil
1 small onion
2 carrots
1-2 celery sticks
3 cloves garlic
1 red chilli (or ¼ teaspoon chilli powder)
1 cup green lentils
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1250 ml organic vegetable broth (5 cups)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1-2 whole thyme sprigs
optional: 1-2 seeded tomatoes
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Rinse and drain the lentils (sometimes it's recommended that you boil them for 2 minutes before rinsing). Set them aside and prepare the vegetable broth. Boil water and pour into a heatproof measuring jug with vegetable bouillon or stock cubes. For 1250 ml water (5 cups) you will normally need 5 teaspoons of the bouillon powder or 2¼ stock cubes (brands may vary; read the label).

Peel and chop the onion. Slice the carrots and celery sticks. Remove the seeds from the chilli (if using) and chop finely. Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan on medium heat. Add the onion and vegetables and cook for a few minutes until they have softened. Peel and press the garlic and add it to the saucepan. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, gently stirring.

Add the lentils and spices and stir gently. Pour in the broth and add the bay leaf and thyme. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft but not mushy. Use a lid but tilt it to allow the steam to escape. If using tomatoes: remove the seeds and dice the tomatoes before adding them to the saucepan.

Before serving, remove the bay leaf and the leftovers of the fresh thyme (if using). Season the soup with black pepper and salt, if you think it needs more salt. Serve with (home-made) wholegrain bread, and perhaps a glass of fine red wine ... just saying.

Uppskrift á íslensku

Tomato soup with vegetables and curry powder

I wrote this yesterday when we were in the living room with hot chocolate and enjoying the warmth from the fireplace. Not only has it been cold outside but on Sunday our boiler broke down and the repairman isn't expected until today. Feeling thankful for that fireplace! Yesterday we really needed something warming and comforting for lunch and all we could think of was a bowl of it's-cold-outside soup. It's the name we gave my variation of Hadda's tomato soup, a hearty soup we found on the CafeSigrun website many years ago, when we still lived in Iceland. It's the ideal soup on cold winter days.

We all liked the original tomato soup recipe but it contains light cream cheese, which is something I don't normally buy (the rest of the ingredients can usually be found in my cupboards/fridge), and too much rosemary for my taste. Therefore, I decided to adjust the recipe slightly, and I added beans to make it even more filling. I serve the soup with bread, either fresh from the oven or the bread maker. For a certain texture you will need either a hand blender or a food processor/blender to prepare the soup. There is no need to despair if you don't have any of these appliances in your kitchen, just chop the vegetables finely instead of coarsely; it will only change the texture of the soup, not its taste. This is a big batch of soup that I'm making for five people. Adjust accordingly if making for only 1-2 persons, or refrigerate the rest and warm up the day after.

TOMATO SOUP WITH VEGETABLES AND CURRY POWDER

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
4 potatoes
2 x 400 g cans tomatoes (2 x 14 oz)
500-700 ml water (2-3 cups)
2 organic vegetable stock cubes (or 1 and 1 chicken stock cube)
2-3 tablespoons organic ketchup
- or 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses or unrefined cane sugar
½ tablespoon curry powder (hot or mild)
½ tablespoon ground coriander
½ tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon rosemary
optional: a pinch of saffron strands
1 can (400 g) kidney beans or black beans (14 oz)
100-125 ml coconut milk (½ cup or a little less)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel the onion and chop coarsely. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion on low heat until it softens, occasionally stirring gently. Peel and press the garlic and add it to the saucepan.

Peel the potatoes. Chop the carrots, celery sticks and potatoes coarsely, add to the saucepan and cook for a few minutes on low heat, just to soften the vegetables.

Add the canned tomatoes, water, vegetable stock cubes and ketchup. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Then add the spices and herbs, put the lid on and leave to simmer for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.

Remove the saucepan from heat. Use a hand blender to purée the soup, not too smoothly (unless you prefer it), but be careful: The soup is very hot and you could get burned if you spray the soup up and out of the saucepan! To be on the safe side you can allow it to cool before using the hand blender, but hold it straight up and down and only press the button when the bottom part of the blender is in the soup. I like it when the soup contains a few coarse bits so I mainly purée the potatoes and largest bits. You can also purée the soup in batches in a food processor/blender but then you must allow it to cool first.

Rinse and drain the beans and add to the saucepan with the coconut milk. Gently heat the soup (don't bring to the boil) for a few minutes and taste with salt and black pepper before serving.

Uppskrift á íslensku.