Well, we won't be able to have soup here for much longer, and I've been craving broccoli soup, so here's a great little recipe which is fantastic for freezer-food if you want to take something to work for lunch (partially inspired by my sister, who is a dedicated slow-cooker and freezer-food lady). Please keep in mind, this quantity is if you want to make EXTRA to freeze for later - if you just want a meal for 2-3 people, you could cut this by a third.

Here's what you need:

• 3 small (or 1 HUGE) broccoli
• 4 brown onions
• 1 leek
• 5 potatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 chillies
  1 tub of natural yoghurt
• 2 500ml cartons of vegetable stock
• 3 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• chopped parsley 
• pepper

 

Here's what you do:

So, to begin with, we went out and bought a NEW FOOD PROCESSOR today... so we were pretty darn excited to make this soup. Well... at least... i was. Michael contained his excitement fairly well. Anyway, if you don't have a food processor... your soup is gonna be chunky. So. There's that. Just... go out and get yourself one, okay? Solid. 

 

Also, if you don't have one of these babies, i don't know what's wrong with you. When i cut onions, i cry like a baby. Like a baby who is hungry, teething, and has a dirty nappy! This invention was long overdue from being a part of my kitchen. Right, so obviously the first step is to chop up your vegetables! YAY! With a food processor and an onion-dicey-thingy, this makes chopping veges way more fun. I basically spent most of this time pretending i was a wood-chipper and making "nnnnnyyyaawwww" noises as i poked florets of broccoli into the container. Good times. 

 

So, while i was pretending to be a wood-chipper, Michael was actually cooking. Throw your diced onion and leek into your pan and give it a good swish around in hot oil. Add your chillies, your spices, and your garlic. It will start to get a little bit sticky - don't let it burn! Once the spices are smelling awesome, start to add the stock so that it becomes less pasty. Om nom nom. 

 

Ahhhh my precious. Look at this broccoli. All chopped up and ready to go! I even did the leek and the potatoes in it! Which is great because it took less time to cook because they were thinly sliced up. AMAZING! Kambrook, you complete me. OK... i digress... so your next step is to pop the potatoes into the pot. I probably should have mentioned, you're going to need a BIG pot... i actually used two pots. Depends how much you're going to make. Once the potatoes have had about 5-10 mins, add some more stock, and then chuck in your broccoli.

 

Give it a good stir, add the rest of your stock, and then bring it to boil. Once it has come to the boil, you can leave it to simmer gently for about 15 minutes. The flavours and smells in your kitchen right now should be particularly awesome. Michael and i went for a jog whilst waiting for the simmer, and when we walked back down the driveway we could smell it from there. Bliss! Ok, you're almost there... but i'm not going to lie, the next part can get dirty.

 

Just before you get to the messy part - add your chopped parsley (but keep a handful for garnish... we all love a good garnish don't we?) Now, the next step: It's relatively easy, but it can go very wrong very fast if you don't pay attention to what you're doing. If you have a sealed food processor (with no air escaping) you CAN NOT schoozh your food when it's hot - it will explode all over your white lacey dress that you paid way too much money for at Forever New and you will spend the rest of your life crying from ESSS (explosive-soup-sadness syndrome). SO, ladle your soup into your processor, and schoozh away my friends! Once it's all nicely smooth looking, you can tip it back into the pot and put it back on the stove. 

 

Wooo! You're almost there! Doesn't your soup smell amazing? I'm going to be the first to admit that broccoli soup doesn't always LOOK that great, but in my opinion the looks of this soup pales in comparison to the taste. Ughhnnnnomnomnom. Right, the final step is to add your yoghurt - you can use cream if you want to... but natural yoghurt is MUCH better for you *nods* i have your best interests at heart here. Alright, now you just want to bring it up to ALMOST boiling point (startin' to get steamy!) and you're done! Ready to serve. DELISH!

 It's a pretty hearty meal all by itself, but Michael had his with a crusty roll, and we both added a sprinkle of cracked pepper. OH, and don't forget the garnish! ENJOY!!!

So, this was a bit of a 'choose your own adventure' dinner - and i can hardly believe how well it worked out!! Stuffed Capsicums, or stuffed "peppers" as some American people would say. So...

Here's what you need:

1 cup couscous
2 cups vege stock
2 red capsicums
5 mushrooms (diced OR grated)
1 medium carrot (grated)
200g haloumi (cubed)
3 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp curry powder
approx 85g cheddar cheese (grated)
1 chilli (or 3 if they're really small....like ours.... hehehe)
2 tsp crushed garlic
olive oil

 

So, this recipe is fairly simple. After you have turned your oven on to 180 C, you can boil your vege stock; please keep approx 4 tablespoons of stock as leftover for later. Now, boiling your stock: this can either be done in a pot on the stove, or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. Once the stock is boiling, add the couscous and cover it with a lid (removed from the heat source). You may need to add extra water, depending on how fluffy you want the couscous. Now, you want to cut the capsicums in half - you can do it length ways or side ways, it depends if the capsicums can stand up or not. We found it easier to cut them like little boats. Take out the seeds/insides, and lay them out on an oven tray.

 

Next, you will combine the oil and the garlic in a small bowl and lightly brush the insides of the capsicums. From here you can slide them into the oven and let them cook slightly whilst you are preparing the stuffing. You don't want to completely cook the capsicums, just make them slightly tender. 

 

You next step is to chop up all your other ingredients and combine them into a bowl with your couscous. EASY! (Just as a side note, we made approx double the recipe so that we would have leftovers.) You will want to put HALF the grated cheese in the bowl, and still have some left over to sprinkle on the top before they go in the oven. You may need more or less grated cheddar, depending how much you like cheese... hehe. 

Alright, now your stuffing is made - so you just grab your capsicums out of the oven and start gently spooning the stuffing into the capsicum shells. You can use the back side of the spoon to push it down as you go, and don't be afraid to mound the stuffing up - they do flatten out slightly in the oven as the haloumi and the cheese melts.

 Ok, once you've stuffed your peppers, you can sprinkle on the remaining cheddar cheese. I suppose if you wanted you could also add a sprinkle of pepper at this point, but i really don't think it's needed. Now, i grabbed the little bit of leftover stock and splashed it around in the tray - just so that the capsicums can soak it up as they are cooking...

Now all there is left to do is pop them in the oven! They will probably need about half an hour on 180 C for the cheese to start browning. Don't worry if the edges of the capsicums burn a little - it tastes lovely!

 So, that's it! If you want to you can serve these with garlic bread and a glass of rose, and trust me, they are taaaaasty! Of course, you could really add or take out whatever you like from the stuffing - if there's something extra you want to add, or if there's something in there you don't like - that's why it's a choose your own adventure! They're actually really filling, thanks to the couscous, and if you keep them in an air-tight container they will keep in the fridge and can be reheated up to 4 days later. DELICIOUS!

Who doesn't love a good korma? This recipe turned out better than i expected; we used a recipe from our 'Vegetable Bible', but this is a bit of a variation. You can get 4-6 servings out of this recipe, and you can put it in the freezer.

Ingredients:

• 95g unsalted cashews
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1/2 tbsp ginger
• approx 200ml water
• 55g ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1tsp cardamom powder
• 1tsp cinnamon powder
• 1tsp turmeric
• 250ml cream
• 140g potatoes
• half a cauliflower (cut into small florets)
• 1tsp garam masala
• 2-3tsp chili flakes
  
• 1 medium aubergine/eggplant (cut into small pieces)
• 140g green beans (chopped)
• salt & pepper
• fresh mint or coriander (chopped - to garnish)

Let's DO our THANG:

The first thing you want to do is dry cook the cashews in your pot until they are browned and delicious. The smell is amazing, a bit like popcorn. Once browned, set one handful aside for garnish, and put the rest into a blender with the garlic, ginger, and about a tablespoon or so of water. Szhoozsh it up until it makes a paste. Leave this to one side.

Okay, now you want to melt your ghee/vegetable oil in a pot (make sure this pot has a lid for later simmering). Once it's all melted, you want to brown your onion (should take about 5-8 mins), then you can add your nut paste.

Stir it around for about 5 mins, and now you can add in your cardamom, cinnamon, and turmeric. Just after adding these powders you can start to stir in the cream and the rest of your water. From here, you bring it to boil, and then let it simmer (covered) for about 5 mins. It should start to smell really yummy at this point!

Okay, now you can add in your potatoes, cauliflower, chili flakes, and the garam masala. If you're like me and you really like garam masala, you can add in a little extra (tee hee). Now, you want to let it simmer again (covered) for another 10 mins. The potatoes should start to get a little bit softer before you add in your green beans and your aubergine.

Now, our original recipe said 'simmer for 5 mins or until vegetables are tender'. Excuse me? Potatoes do NOT take 5 mins on medium heat. They need much longer. For us, it was almost another 15 mins on simmer, but it's entirely up to you to check and taste your potatoes.

Just before serving, you will want to add a little bit of salt and pepper. Now, it's really your choice as to how you serve this. You can have it 'as-is', or you can have it with brown rice, white rice, or cous cous.

We chose cous cous simply because we were really hungry and cous cous is really quick n easy to make! Hehe. We used chopped mint and our leftover handful of roasted cashews as a garnish (the ones we didn't nibble on whilst cooking!) ENJOY!