The Cottage Smallholder

We should be sylphlike by now. We were gradually shedding the pounds with the new half veggie diet and soup each day for lunch.

The dangerous thing about losing weight with little effort is that you can start to take it for granted and assume that whatever you eat will have no effect on your size. Unlike multi national corporations, we didn’t want to grow.

Gradually we’ve slithered back to sandwiches for lunch. Chocolate bars, biscuits and the occasional ice cream treat on a hot day have tempted us.

“Gosh, you’ve put on weight! ” My mum was concerned last weekend. “I’m just looking at your face and neck. You have to be careful.”

I imagined a face like a circular breadboard and a neck as thick as a queue jumper at Heathrow. In the privacy of our bathroom I confirmed her findings. So we’ve switched back to soup for lunch, whether or not D’s neck requires reduction.

This soup looked and tasted summery. It hadn’t been liquidised so the bite of the contents complimented the subtle light juices, unlike a thick winter option. It needs lots of fresh parsley and basil to lift the flavours but, sipped beside the pond at lunchtime, this low fat soup was delicious. We both agreed that a sprinkle of grated parmesan would be good.

It’s essential to slice the vegetables very fine. I used the food processor for this. The slow cooker took over and the soup was ready in three hours. I tossed in a large handful of tiny pasta shells for the last half an hour. And warmed the bowls on the lid of the slow cooker.

Light summery vegetable soup recipe (for four as a light lunch, six as a starter)

Ingredients:

• 2 medium leeks, green tops removed. Washed well and sliced fine
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced fine
• 2 thick broccoli stalks, sliced fine
• 1.5 litres of intense chicken stock (if using cubes use three good ones to this amount of water)
• 1 very fat clove of garlic chopped fine
• Good pinch of mixed Italian herbs
• 1-2 tsp of good vegetable stock powder
• 50g of tiny pasta shells
• A large handful of parsley chopped fine
• A few sprigs of basil chopped fine
• Salt to taste
• Lashings of ground white pepper

Method:

1. Prepare and slice your vegetables very fine and toss into the slow cooker (crock pot).
2. Heat up the chicken stock and when bubbling pour over the vegetables. Add the vegetable stock powder and dried herbs.
3. Switch to auto (this setting will heat on high until the liquid reaches the correct temperature and then automatically switch to slow). Leave for two and a half hours.
4. Add the baby pasta and cook for a further 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
5. Stir in a heaped teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley and basil to each warmed bowl, just before serving.