RECIPE | CURRIED ROASTED PARSNIP SOUP

If my currently loving post is me pretending to be a lifestyle blogger once a month, then the re-introduction of my regular recipe series is me pretending to be a food blogger. I do think there is space on Splodz Blogz for food. I mean, every outdoors lover enjoys eating… it’s not that tenuous! You always seem to respond well to my recipes, and as this is the start of a new year I thought I’d make it a regular monthly thing and hope you find some inspiration for your next meal. First up, we have a bit of a winter warmer that also ticks the healthy eating box – my curried parsnip soup.

Curried Roasted Parsnip Soup

I think it’s fair to say that most people are trying to be extra good this month, as we tend to overindulge somewhat over Christmas and New Year. Whether you are trying to lose weight or not, getting our food right is very important. But the problem with trying to be super good in January is that it’s cold, dark and generally damp. Who wants to eat salad in winter?! One way to eat well in winter is to make hearty vegetable soups. This recipe for curried roasted parsnip soup comes in at less than 250 calories per bowlful – and it’s good and thick so will fill you up. It’s just perfect for when you get home after a day out on the hills in the wind and the rain, it might even work in a thermos!

Curried Roasted Parsnip Soup

This is not a hot and spicy soup, rather a curried soup that has a deep flavour that makes it very satisfying and comforting. Thanks to there being no butter, cream, potato or the like, it can be enjoyed without any guilt. Here’s how you make it…

The herbs and spices that cut through the sweetness and provide loads of flavour.

• A tablespoon of oil, I used veggie oil, but use whatever you have in your cupboard 
• A tablespoon each of dried coriander leaf, ground cumin and ground turmeric 
• A good dollop (a really good heaped teaspoon) of whole grain mustard 
• A large white onion, cut into wedges
• Four large parsnips (around 700g or so), cut into cubes
• Half a tin of chopped tomatoes (save the other half for another day, this recipe really doesn’t need a full tin)
• 1.2 litres good veg stock – this is a soup, even if you use cubes, make them gooduns as it does make a difference 

Get the oven heated to around 180 degrees Celsius, fill and boil the kettle, find a large enough pan to hold all your soup, and make sure you have all the bits for your liquidiser or food processor. 

Oil, wholegrain mustard, coriander, cumin, turmeric. 

The rub for the veggies.

Step one is to make a rub using the oil, coriander leaf, ground cumin, ground turmeric and the wholegrain mustard. Put everything in a large bowl (big enough for all your vegetables) and use a spoon or your fingers to mix it all up into a paste.

Parsnips and onion coated in the curry style rub.

Put your chopped onion and parsnips in the bowl and coat in the rub. You may need to add an extra swig of oil to make sure everything is well coated and not too dry – I did. Transfer the coated veg into a roasting tin, spoon the chopped tomatoes over the top, and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until you can easily stick a butter knife into the parsnips. 

Raw versus roasted veg. Smells amazing!

Once the vegetables are cooked, allow to cool slightly and make up your stock. Liquidise the veggies with the stock in batches until you have your smooth(ish) soup. I say “ish” because you’ll have mustard seeds in there and some rougher bits from roasting rather than boiling the veg, but it’ll be a good thick soup consistency. 

Fills the house with good smells! 

Put the soup in a pan and heat on the hob until it is piping hot and ready to eat. Alternatively you can portion it up and save it for later – just reheat it when you want to eat it. 

This recipe makes four decent sized portions of the soup; we had ours for dinner with some nice wholegrain sub rolls (heated in the oven, of course) and I’ve frozen the other two portions for later in the month. If you want to make it really special or fancy pants to serve to guests, then fry some bacon until really crispy and serve the soup with that on the top.

Let me know if you try it!

Have a look at my catalogue of recipes here: Splodz Blogz’s Recipes.