Broccoli and Stilton Soup

Continuing on the soup theme, I thought I'd try something different.  I had never previously made or even eaten broccoli and stilton soup but had always thought it sounded really nice because I love stilton and blended soup as you may have read in the previous post.  This soup is really tasty and incredibly easy to make, you can really taste the stilton although it is not so strong that it is overpowering.  The picture above does not really do it credit.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion
1 large potato
1 broccoli floret
1 pint vegetable stock
100g stilton

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft
• Add the peeled and chopped potatoes and chopped broccoli
• Add the stock and boil until the potatoes are cooked
• Take off the heat, add the crumbled stilton and blend with a hand blender

This recipe makes two portions, serve it with crusty bread or on its own.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Soup is a really good choice for a healthy meal, especially if you are trying to lose weight, since it is very low in carbs but still makes you feel full.  It is also incredibly easy to make and a good way to use up fresh vegetables quickly.  All you need for a good, thick soup is a pan, a hand blender and some fresh veg and you're all set.  I chose to make a traditional carrot and coriander soup because I love coriander and I wasn't feeling very inventive but you can make soup with anything you want really.

For this soup I used (in order of use):
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 medium sized potato
1/2 kg bag carrots
1 tablespoon dried ground coriander
1 pint vegetable stock
a small handful fresh coriander

Method:

• heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic until softened
• add the potato and fry for a few minutes, then add the carrots
• add in the dried coriander and the vegetable stock then boil until the potatoes are soft
• take the soup of the heat and blend until smooth with a hand blender
• add the fresh coriander leaves without the stalks to the soup and blend in

This soup makes 2 portions, serve it with crusty bread, naan bread or just on its own if you are trying to eat a low carb diet, if you want to be even more low carb don't add the potato, I just like the texture that potatoes add to blended soup.