Potato, spinach, pea and basil soup - a tasty vegan feast

Another week has passed and we have another soup recipe for you, this one does have some reseamblence to shrek's swamp but trust me its very tasty and great for making when you hardly have anything in the cupboards. For the sake of economy I use frozen peas and spinach and there is no waste either.

                     

Vegan as it contains only vegetables, however if this isn't important to you then its delicious served topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese or swirled with creme fraiche or yogurt.

Thickened by blending half the ingredients in to the soup its low in fat and containes no flours or grains so its gluten free too.

What you need

• Onion - peeled and chopped
• 2 potatoes - peeled and diced
• 3 blobs of frozen spinach
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• Vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper
• A little olive or rapeseed oil
• Handful fresh basil

What you do

• Fry the onion and the potato in a little oil add the vegetable stock to the pan, simmer until softened
• Add the frozen peans and frozen spinach to the pan and bring back to the simmer and the spinach is defrosted. Add the basil 
• Now blitz half the pan with a stick blender until smooth and retaining some chunky vegetables for texture.
• Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary.
• Serve piping hot

We are linking up to "Eat your Greens" over on Allotment 2 Kitchen , the challenge being to cook with a green vegetable and for the recipe to be vegeterian.

French bean, tomato and cumin salad

I love using fresh seasonal produce in recipes and its even better if that produce is freshly picked from the garden. As per usual I am fighting a loosing battle with the courgette plants in the garden and it was whilst picking the a fore mentioned vegetable, I spotted that my lovely golden french bean plants were starting to crop. I find French beans are always better eaten young and the golden variety we are are growing this year is pleasantly waxy.

This is a great dish to serve along side a grilled steak or chicken fillet or just on its own with other salads and has a pleasant aromatic spiciness which is lovely warm or cold, it also usefully uses a few small tomatoes too homegrown if you have those too. It would be a great take along dish for a bbq or party, much more exciting than the standard coleslaw.

What you need

• French beans - topped and tailed (not too large pods)
• Butter - a good sized knob
• Tomato - 1 large or couple of small - chopped 
• Clove of garlic - crushed
• Freshly ground cumin - 1 tsp ish
• Salt - pinch
• Pepper - to taste
• Fresh coriander leaves

What you do

• Simmer the prepared beans in a little salted water until tender, but still with a little body.
• Drain the beans and place in a small frying pan and cook with the butter, garlic, chopped tomato and cumin.
• Cook for a few minutes until the tomato pieces are softened, remove from heat, season to taste.
• Serve strewn with fresh corainder leaves

I'm joining in the foodie fun this month over on Tinned Tomatoes for No Croutons required.

                                                            

We are also linking up to Eat your Greens over at Allotment 2 kitchen

And finally we are linking up to The Spice Trail who's theme this month is Beach BBQ, hosted over on Bangers and Mash.                                                          

                              

Ragbag pasta with roasted courgette, basil and mint

Well its that time of year again when our courgette plants are yielding a courgette a day and my quest is to find new and novel ways to serve this vegetable. This recipe came about as a way to use up the part bags of pasta that you often find lurking in the cupboard waiting for a little love, it works fine with gluten free pasta which I find remains al dente for longer than normal pasta.

I also spotted that this months cooking with herbs had the theme of basil, at its peak flavour wise at this time of year, I combined it with mint for a pesto flavour twist and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. A delicious, frugal and tasty dish, rich in courgettes and herbs. This dish is healthy and fresh tasting and makes use of some great seasonal ingredients that just sing summer.

What you need

• Courgettes (Zucchini) - approx 3 medium sized cut into 2cm slice, cut in half
• Olive oil - good drizzle
• Fresh basil- 3 sprigs
• Fresh garden mint - 3 sprigs, leaves picked off
• Parmesan cheese - handful
• Cooked pasta (cooked to the instruction on the packet)
• Black pepper - freshly ground

What you do

• Toss the chopped courgettes with olive oil and place on an oven tray

• Roast in the oven at 180c for about 40 minutes or so until the courgettes are softened and tinged golden brown
• Whilst the courgettes are roasting, cook the pasta so that it ready when the courgettes are ready.

• Drain the pasta and toss with the roasted courgettes and oil , add the cheese and the herbs torn into small pieces

• Toss and then serve with freshly ground black pepper

I'm including this post in this months cooking with herbs, whose theme this month is basil. Created by Lavender and Lovage and hosted also this month by Karen too.

             
                                                         

I am also linking to Pasta Please created by Tinned Tomatoes and Hungry Healthy Happy, hosted this month by Hungry Healthy Happy, the theme is a pasta dish healthy or lightened.

                                          

And also to Eat Your Greens over on Allotment2Kitchen.