A Soup In Tune With Your Tastebuds!

 

 

Piccolo, those short, sweet and delicious baby parsnips are back in season. I love to roast or bake them as a vegetable accompaniment or salad ingredient (they’re just as good hot or cold) alone or with other roots like beetroot, carrots and salsify, but they also make a gorgeous soup – perfect for early post-op bariatrics. This recipe makes a lightly curried soup flavoured with sweet potatoes, coconut, ginger and a hint of lime. It’s a great recipe to make at the moment now that ‘Soup Season’ is getting under way as the days turn chillier and the nights grow longer.

Nutritious as well as incredibly convenient (they also store well) – these parsnips are low in calories and contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. They are also a good source of fibre, folic acid, calcium, potassium, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, Vitamin C, iron and zinc – so what’s not to like? Piccolo parsnips may well be small but they’re big on flavour – so make these little vegetable gems ‘sing’ for you!

 

 

 

CURRIED PICCOLO PARSNIP AND SWEET POTATO SOUP

Ingredients

METRIC/US

low-fat cooking spray or mist

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp chopped fresh root ginger

1 tbsp curry powder (strength according to your taste and tolerance)

500 g/1 lb piccolo baby parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

250 g/8 oz sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

1.2 litres/5 cups vegetable stock/bouillon

2 x 400 g/14 oz cans light or reduced-fat coconut milk

grated rind and juice of 1 lime

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tbsp fat-free thick Greek yogurt, to serve (I used Fage)

grated lime zest to garnish (optional)

 

METHOD

1.  Generously spritz a large pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Heat, add the onion, garlic, ginger and curry powder, mixing well. Cover and cook over a low heat for about 8 minutes until the onions are soft.

2.  Add the parsnips, sweet potatoes, stock/bouillon and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the parsnips and sweet potato are tender and cooked.

3.  Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender until smooth or puree in a blender and return to the pan.

4.  Add the grated lime, lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat if necessary. If the soup is too thick then thin with a little extra stock/bouillon.

5.  Serve in bowls topped with a spoonful of yogurt and garnish with grated lemon rind. Grilled sourdough bread makes a good accompaniment if you can tolerate it.

SERVES 6

WLS PORTION: 1/2-1

V suitable for Vegetarians

 

CALORIES PER PORTION: 185

PROTEIN: 5.6g

CARBOHYDRATE: 25.2g

FAT: 7.2g

 

Image courtesy of www.piccoloparsnip.co.uk