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Veg Box News: 18th - 21st August, 2015 ... with delicious Herby Summer Soup
by Chris, 4 yr, 4 m ago in Blog
Comments | Tags: Box News, Local, summer season, UK, seasonal, cooking tips, recipe, soup, fresh herbs, Share a recipe
Next week’s boxes should look something like this, but by now you should all know the provisos and hesitations we attach to such a statement!
A
• Potatoes 1.2kg
• Carrots 500g
• Onions 400g
• Cauliflower
• Bag of Kale
• Bunch of Celery
• Red Pepper
B
• Sweet Potato 400g
D
• Potatoes +600g
• Tomatoes 500g
E
• Tomatoes 500g
• Locally-grown Courgettes 500g 
L/M
• Green pepper
• Sweet potatoes 400g
I don’t normally post the fruit box recipe as the basics are usually fairly predictable, but at the moment there is a bit of a dearth of good citrus which means the boxes are a little more variable in content. The melons and pineapples are great at this time of year though
K
• Apples 700g
• Bananas 600g
• Peaches 400g
• Avocados x 2
• ½ Pineapple
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
Q
• Tues – Watermelon
• Thurs – Galia melon
Some of last week’s boxes had a little bunch of fresh parsley in from Matt (Sheffield Organic Growers) which inspired me to come up with this rather tasty Herby Summer Soup – ideal for those not quite so summery days. You could use all sorts of different vegetables in this as the base - courgettes, cauliflower - but the real stars are the herbs:
Herby Summer Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large or 2 medium onions
- 3 sticks celery
- 1 leek
- 3 medium carrots
- 150g red lentils
- 100ml apple juice
-
1L vegetable stock
- Small bunch of fresh coriander
-
Larger bunch of fresh parsley, flat leaf or curly (approx 40g)
- Olive oil for frying
- Ground black pepper
- Soured cream (or vegan alternative) – optional
Method
- Place the lentils in a pan with at least double the amount of water, bring to the boil and then simmer until soft adding more water if necessary.
- Meanwhile, chop the onion and fry in the olive oil until translucent and soft
- Chop the celery and leek and add to the onion and continue to sauté for a further four or five minutes
- Dice the carrots and add to the pan and continue to fry until these, too, are starting to soften.
- Add the apple juice and stock to the pan and bring to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer, covered, for around thirty minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the lentils to the pan, stir thoroughly and cook for a few more minutes.
- Finely chop the coriander and the parsley and add most to the soup reserving just a handful for a garnish, then turn off the heat and allow it to cool for a moment.
- Transfer the soup to a food processor, or get out your hand-blender, and blitz it until smooth
- Return to the pan and heat for a few minutes but do not allow to boil. If it seems too think then let it down a little with water.
- Serve with a sprinkling of the reserved herbs and a dollop of soured cream or vegan alternative.
Delicious!
