Wednesday 11 February 2015

Curried Pumpkin soup

This soup is a real hearty winter warmer like getting a warm cuddle in your belly (it really is) There's nothing better than a nice warm bowl of soup when you're feeling a bit under the weather and need a pick me up.

I had a Butternut squash that needed using up so I thought I'd cheer myself up with this yummy bowl of goodness :) It's so easy and tasty and most of all it's healthy :) Give it a try.

Ingredients:

2 cups of pumpkin puree (butternut squash)
1 stick of celery diced
Half a yellow onion diced
1 clove of garlic minced
1 medium sized carrot sliced
Ground black pepper as needed
Himalayan salt as needed
1/2 tsp of Curry powder
sprig of thyme
2 and 1/2 cups of water
Olive Oil (drizzle)
Dollop of fat free yogurt

Method and preparation:

Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large pan and heat gently.

Add the onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes until the onion is soft.

Now add the celery and carrots and give it a stir.
Add in the pumpkin puree and add all the seasonings along with the water.

Bring the soup to a boil and turn the heat down and let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on but leaving a slight gap.
Stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick or burn.

After the 20 minutes is up taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking.

Now either use a jug blender or stick blender to puree the soup to the consistency of your liking or serve it as it is (chunky) I pureed mine with a stick blender.

Put it back on the heat to warm it up for a minute or two and serve in a bowl with a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt .

Servings : 2

Notes: 

I wanted this to be a healthy recipe , that's why I haven't used a stock in my soup as it contains too much sodium and adds to the calories. Water did the job perfectly as the seasoning gave it enough flavour.

I also used Himalayan salt as it is extremely healthy for you, tastes better and has no calories :)

I also used fat free yogurt in place of cream/creme fraiche.

try it out and let me know what you think :)

Enjoy and happy cooking.





Sunday 1 February 2015

Baked Cinnamon and Maple Pears

If you have any pears in your fruit bowl that are slightly ripe , why not try making this warm and delicious dessert perfect for the winter :)
It's super easy and you'll be really impressed.
Go on... give it a try.

Ingredients:

pears peeled cut in half and cored.  (as needed)

Brown sugar to sprinkle on top.
Maple syrup to drizzle over pears
Cinnamon to sprinkle over pears.

Method and preparation:

preheat the oven to 180/350

Carefully peel the pears and cut them in half and core them. I left the stalks on for decoration but you can remove them.

Place the pear halves in an oven proof dish and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon all over them and finally drizzle the maple syrup over them and bake for 10 minutes.

Plate them up and enjoy with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream :)




Happy eating :)