Carrot and coriander soup

Difficulty: Easy

Time:40 minutes (10 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking)

Serves: 4

It’s well and truly soup season in our house. As well as being a good winter warmer I like giving the kids soup for lunch as it’s healthy and a great way of getting a shot of vegetables in them in the middle of the day. Hannah chose this recipe – she loves carrot soup, or so she says. I love making it at home though because it’s so cheap (a whole bag of carrots cost us 65p) and really simple. What’s not to like?!

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
3 leeks or onions
2 cloves of garlic
5 large carrots (approx 600g)
1 tbsp coriander (cilantro)
4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock
1 tbsp plain yoghurt or crème fraiche

Method

Prepare and cook the vegetables
Peel and chop the carrots, onions/leek and garlic.

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the onions/leeks, carrots and garlic and stir well to coat in the butter. Cover and leave to cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften.

Add the coriander and stock
Stir in the coriander and cook for about one minute. Pour in the stock and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for around 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Serve the carrot and coriander soup
Leave to cool slightly, then puree the soup in a blender or with a stick blender until the soup is smooth.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt or crème fraiche.