soup | The Tofu Diaries

A rich soup packed full of red & brown lentils and tomatoes, livened up with the Thai flavours of galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime.

Soup is an ideal lunchtime option – you can make it in batches for the week ahead, it’s easy to pack lots of different vegetables and pulses into it, and it can be filling enough to see you through the afternoon. In fact, soup is such an ideal lunch that it can be hard to know what to have in its place come warmer weather. Salads are great but they don’t last so well as a batch and certainly can’t be frozen!

This dilemma got me thinking about soup flavours that would carry well into summer but still retain the heartiness to prevent hunger kicking in only a couple of hours later. Thinking of hotter climes, it struck me that Thai flavours would be perfect. Combined with some less traditionally Thai ingredients, I think this hits the spot.

This recipes uses a Thai panang curry paste. Panang is probably one of my favourite Thai curries; it has a tangy taste, deepened by the aromatic flavours of lemongrass and galangal with a real kick from both red and green chillies. You can make it for yourself or use a shop-bought paste. I would have loved to make my own for this but that always requires quite a bit of forethought in terms of locating the necessary ingredients; I prefer to pick up a pot whenever I’m in an Asian foodstore and keep it in my cupboard for when the mood takes me.

Shrimp paste is a very common ingredient in Thai curry pastes so be sure to check the label before you buy. I found Maesri’s Panang Curry Paste in my local Chinese supermarket which is completely vegan (but very hot!) and I’m sure there are others too. Ingredients:

400g white onion, finely chopped

800g/2 cans chopped tomatoes

150g red lentils

150g brown lentils

3tbsp panang curry paste

1tbsp tomato purée

2 cloves garlic

3cm cube fresh ginger, finely chopped

750ml vegetable stock

1tsp fresh or dried basil

1 fresh lime, to serve

Add all ingredients, except the basil and lime, reserving 250ml of the stock, to the slow cooker. Mix well
Cook on high for five to six hours, or on low for twelve hours. About twenty minutes before the end, stir in the basil
Once the lentils have fully softened, add in the remaining stock and either blend the soup in a liquidiser or using a hand blender
Slice the lime and squeeze on to serve.

What do you think to soup in the summer? Do you still enjoy it or is it a no-go?

I mentioned briefly in my last slow cooker recipe that my relationship with this new piece of equipment has blossomed quickly. Indeed, it has immediately become a mainstay in my kitchen. Preparing the ingredients the night before, popping it on when I leave for work in the morning, then coming home to freshly cooked, piping hot meal at the end of the day is just too good for words. Not only that but I have several meals worth leftover, saving me time for the rest of the week or allowing me to stock up my freezer hassle-free. How have I gone without it for so long?

As an added bonus, mine is a ‘sear and stew’ model meaning I can fry onions or give any other ingredients a kick-start where necessary by putting the slow cooker insert itself onto the hob, saving the hassle of using another pan or anything beforehand.

Another benefit of the slow cooker, not to be sniffed at, is how cheap it makes creating nutritious meals. I picked up the bag of parsnips for this recipe reduced to just 34p and the rest of the ingredients can’t cost more than a couple of pounds all together.Slow cooking really brings out the sweetness of the ingredients in this soup, with the hint of spice gently balancing it. I kept mine thick and chunky with whole butterbeans but it would also be delicious blended. Ingredients

1tbsp olive oil

6-7 parsnips, cut into thick rounds

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes

3-4 shallots, chopped

1 tin butterbeans, drained

400ml vegetable stock

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Generous amount of black pepper

Sprinkle of chilli flakes and black pepper to serve

Begin by softening the shallots in the olive oil over a medium heat on the hob. Add the garlic and spices, stirring well. Add the parsnips and sweet potato. Cook for a further five minutes before adding to the slow cooker along with the beans and stock. Stir well to distribute the spices. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.