My purple collection of soups makes for a strikingly pretty display that tastes just as good as it looks. My personal hero is beetroot, dazzling in both colour and health benefits, with its vitamins, anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. Pick your purple veg carefully – size really does matter, and bigger isn’t always better, with smaller vegetables often being sweeter and more succulent. Try your hand at beetroot with my Beetroot and Rhubarb soup or the Purple Soup. If you’re feeling in need of a sweetener, why not go for a little Blueberry?
RECIPE LIST
There’s no other name for this soup! It looks divine and tastes fabulous too. The red cabbage and beetroot provide the robust, earthy flavour, which is contrasted with the sweetness of the dried cranberry. On a nutritional note, this soup is filled with wonders: red cabbage contains high levels of betacarotene, which is essential for eye and bone health, and a powerful antioxidant; beetroot is known for its blood-pressure-lowering benefits (when combined with a healthy lifestyle) as well as containing a wide array of minerals and vitamins, such as calcium and iron; and, finally, cranberries are high in Vitamin C. This is high-powered fuel in the form of purple delicousness. Dot with chia seeds on serving for fun, fibre and lots of extra minerals.
Serves 3–4
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium beetroot, peeled and chopped
100 g (3½ oz) red cabbage, chopped
1 litre (1¾ pints) vegetable stock
50 g (1¾ oz) dried cranberries
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Caramelise the onion in the oil (see here), then add the beetroot and red cabbage and let the vegetables sweat for 5–6 minutes, partially covered. Stir occasionally.
Add the vegetable stock, stir well and bring to the boil.
Turn down the heat, add the dried cranberries, partially cover and allow to simmer gently for around 20 minutes, until the beetroot is soft. Stir occasionally.
Take off the heat and blend the soup until completely smooth. Season to taste.
A lot of people say that they don’t like beetroot, but I think that the natural blend of sweetness and earthiness is delicious when balanced carefully with the other ingredients that I’ve included in this recipe. Several studies have confirmed that the betalains (nitrogen-containing pigments) and nitrates in beetroots are exceptionally good for you, particularly in helping to lower blood pressure. Don’t be concerned if the colour of the soup changes; the beetroot colour, which makes it high in betacarotene, is volatile and can be affected by temperature, both hot and cold. The colour can also vary according to the variety of beetroot you’re using.
Serves 4
5 beetroots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled
8 sprigs fresh thyme
3 strips orange zest
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
750 ml (1¼ pints) vegetable stock
75 ml (2½ fl oz) fresh orange juice
2 tsp agave nectar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5.
Line a roasting tin with aluminium foil and arrange the beetroot, garlic, thyme and orange zest on top. Sprinkle over the oil and mix well, then tightly cover with foil. Roast in the oven for 20–25 minutes.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove the thyme, discard the orange zest, and carefully squeeze out the contents of the garlic cloves. Discard the skins.
Transfer the contents of the roasting tin into a saucepan and place on a medium to low heat. Add the vegetable stock, mix in well, then partially cover and bring to the boil. Then lower the heat and let it simmer, partially covered, for around 10 minutes, until the beetroot is soft.
Add the orange juice and agave nectar, stir well, then take off the heat. Blend until completely smooth. Season to taste.
The rich flavours of beetroot and rhubarb are tied together here by the addition of orange, which is a fruit that beautifully crosses the sweet-to-savoury boundary. The orange in this soup provides the Vitamin C hit, while the beetroot contains nitrates that can help to lower blood pressure when combined with a healthy lifestyle. The rhubarb is a good source of vitamins A and K. This soup is delicious chilled or hot, topped with some parsnip crisps (see here).
Serves 5–6
For the rhubarb purée
450 g (1 lb) rhubarb stalks
60 ml (2 fl oz) fresh orange juice
For the soup
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium beetroots, peeled and chopped
250 g (9 oz) swede, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped
250 g (9 oz) red cabbage, chopped
1.25 litres (2 pints) vegetable stock
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
2 tsp grated orange zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the rhubarb in a pan with the orange juice and cook for 5–6 minutes on a medium heat, until soft. Set aside and allow to cool.
In a separate pan, caramelise the onion in the oil (see here).
Add the beetroot, swede, carrot, parsnip and red cabbage, and let the vegetables sweat for 5–6 minutes, partially covered over a low to medium heat. Stir occasionally.
Add the vegetable stock and mustard, and stir well. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently, partially covered, for around 20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Stir from time to time during cooking.
Add the cooked rhubarb, including any juice, and the orange zest and mix well. Take off the heat and blend the soup until completely smooth. Season to taste.
Here I have turned the iconic superfood into a delicious ‘souper’ food. Sweet yet tangy, this soup is a hit even with those who won’t usually go near the nutrient-packed blueberry. A little cooking tip is called for here, which is well worth following, unless you want to play a game of ‘clove or blueberry husk?’ with the finished soup. Before adding the lemons and cloves to the pan, stud the cloves into the lemon slices. This makes it much easier to locate the cloves amongst the dark colour of the blueberry soup when you’re ready to remove them.
Serves 4
2 slices lemon
2 cloves, whole
400 g (14 oz) blueberries
5 cm (2 in) cinnamon stick
1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp cornflour
Maple syrup or agave nectar (optional)
Stud the lemon skin with the cloves and place with the blueberries, cinnamon stick, and 750 ml (1¼ pints) water in a pan. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes until the blueberries are soft.
Remove the lemon slices, cloves and cinnamon stick and discard. Put the remaining mixture into a blender and process until smooth.
Pour the blended mixture back into the pan and add the lemon juice.
In a cup, mix the cornflour with a little cold water to create a smooth paste. Slowly add to the soup, gradually bringing it to the boil, stirring constantly until the soup has thickened. When you initially add the cornflour, it will make the soup go opaque, but as it cooks though (coming to the boil then back to a simmer), the soup will become clear again, having thickened at the same time. Add your chosen sweetener to taste.
