Spicy Vege Soup - Its Lunch Time Again

When we moved house a couple of decades ago, I left a large full on kitchen to one, that is about a third of the size of the old one.
So I got rid of all the mixers, blender etc and bought small versions of them.
I also had the misguided thought, that I would need lots of bench space.
Well not so. My small kitchen has catered for up to sixty people.
Organization is the key word.
Anyhow these mini appliances served me well, but now that I am at home, cooking, cooking, cooking, I decided to upgrade to a grown ups food processor, which does it all. I love it.
Yesterday, when making lunch, first it was kneading the bread dough,
Then slicing all of the vege for my soup.
Then pop on the blender, done!

This morning I made breadcrumbs with the leftover bread…then popped
the little whisk attachment on and now meringues are in the oven.
I don’t think I have ever made meringues before.
I may have made the odd Pavlova, but not the little things.
Thought I would make a treat for the little grand daughters,
to take on their road trip to Rotorua.
Little Pink Clouds

Sandwiched them together  with some Ganache
They should keep their sugar levels up

Onto the soup
My friend Rex sent me his favourite Chili Bean soup.
I didn’t have all of the ingredients.
But I was curious about the addition of cabbage to his soup.
I had 1/4 Cabbage left in the fridge so I decided to try this version.
This is a keeper.
Funnily enough the Cabbage along with the Carrots, add sweetness to the soup.
I did add a little bit of sugar just to boost the flavour.
I also used the spices from my Spicy Bean Soup you will find here.
This is very Lo Cal
3 normal ladlefuls only 106 Kcals
Leaves room for bread and a little butter



Olive oil 3 tablespoons
1 med onion, sliced
2 med carrots, sliced
1 med parsnip peeled and sliced
1 kumara peeled and sliced
1/4 cabbage chopped
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 can Cannellini beans
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Coriander
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne
1 tablespoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Celery salt
1 tablespoon Vegeta
1500 mls hot water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
The whole soup yields
Cals 819
Weight 2707 gms

Sauté onion till soft
Add spices, oregano, celery salt, Vegeta and sugar and cook few minutes
Add carrots, parsnip and kumara

Stir and cook gently to get the sweetness out of the vege

About 8 minutes
Add cabbage
Stir well
Add hot water
Bring to boil
Simmer about 15 minutes

Add beans
Simmer just a few minutes
Add red wine vinegar
Taste and adjust seasoning with Salt and pepper
Leave about an hour
Take out half of the vege
Blend and return to pot

Serve with some nice bread.
Here's the recipe...click here

This is from my Calorie Counting Blog.
Now, a quick word about the bread.
If you would like the bread with a nice crust.
Just flour the tin
And sprinkle the top of the dough with flour
before baking.
When it cooked take out of tin and back into the oven for another 5 minutes.
This develops a really nice crust

For a softer crust, oil does a good job.