For the last 1o days our household has been plagued by germs. We have coughed, sneezed, had aches and pains, high temperatures and generally felt very rubbish indeed. Cue the need for some restorative and regenerative super food!
Earlier in the week I was in Holt for a meet up with a bride and groom whose wedding we’ll be shooting in the summer (it’s going to be amazing as they have several locations at their disposal at Greshams school!) Once the meeting was over we treated ourselves to lunch at Byfords followed by a bit of shopping in the town. Our first stop was Bakers and Larners, a luxury department store that sells all those little luxuries that you didn’t know you needed! One of the things that popped into my basket was a lovely big jar of extra virgin coconut oil. It’s a product I’ve seen and read about all over the “healthy internet” but have never tried it – until today that is!
As we have a bit of a glut of both sweet and regular potatoes I thought I’d give the oil it’s first run out in one of my favourite spicy soup recipes. I must say it worked a treat and filled the kitchen full of a warm tropical smell!
Ingredients
- 1lb sweet potatoes peeling and diced
- 1lb sweet potatoes peeling and diced
- 1 large onion chopped
- inch piece of ginger chopped
- 4 large cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 green chill
- 2 dried red chilli
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 heaped teaspoon of cumin seeds
- 1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 heaped teaspoon paprika
- Small bunch of fresh coriander
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Melt the coconut oil in a large pan over a medium heat then add the bay leaf, cumin seed and dried red chillies. Fry for 30 seconds. Add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chopped green chilli and cook on a low heat until soft. Add the diced potatoes and toss in the mixture then add the paprika and the turmeric toss again and fry for another 30 seconds before adding chopped pepper, some chopped coriander and the water. Season with salt and black pepper to taste then simmer for 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Blending the whole lots using a liquidiser or food processor adding a little more liquid if the soup seems too thick. Garnish with fresh coriander and a little soy sauce and serve with bread. (we served our with left over rosemary and cheese pizza which worked a treat!)
