Low Fat, Low Sugar: Essential vegetarian collection

/

a lemon

Put the beans into a large pan with enough water to cover by about 5cm/2 in. Bring to the boil, boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and leave to stand for 1 hour.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley and bay leaf. Bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then reduce and simmer gently, covered, until the beans are very tender – 1–1

/

hours. Add the cumin, ground coriander and oregano. Cook for a further 30 minutes. Remove and discard the parsley stems and bay leaf. Purée about half the beans in a food processor or blender. Put the purée back into the pan. If it is very thick, add a little water to get it to the consistency you like. Reheat gently, add the lemon juice and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Make the salsa by mixing together all the ingredients, season and put into a small bowl. Ladle the soup into bowls and let people spoon the salsa on top of the soup themselves.

butter bean and leek soup with thyme (#ulink_be519ef5-c034-5726-b1ec-bc0dfb60085b)

There’s something very satisfying about making this warming, comforting winter soup. If you want to speed the process up, use canned beans instead of dried.

serves 4

250g/9oz/1

/

cups dried butter or lima beans or 2 x 425g/15oz cans

2 leeks, sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

/

tsp dried thyme

/

tsp curry powder

salt and freshly ground black pepper

juice of 1 lemon

1–2tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to serve

Put the beans into a large pan with enough water to cover them by about 5cm/2 in. Bring to the boil, boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and leave to stand for 1 hour.

Add the leeks, onion, garlic, thyme and curry powder. Bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then reduce and simmer gently, covered, until the beans are very tender – 1–1

/

hours. Purée the soup in a food processor or blender. Put the purée back in the pan. If it is very thick, add a little water to get it to the consistency you like. Reheat gently and add salt, freshly ground black pepper and enough of the lemon juice to bring out the flavour. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

yellow split pea and vegetable soup (#ulink_ee237bbb-b9bc-533c-bafc-47ee49cd0ccb)

This split pea soup originated from Czechoslovakia and is unusual in that it is thickened with a little flour, in addition to the natural thickness which the split peas provide. This gives an interesting texture – a smooth base with tender split peas.

serves 4–6

225g/8oz/heaping 1 cup yellow split peas

2 litres/70fl oz/9 cups water

2 onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1–2tbsp wholewheat flour

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the split peas into a saucepan with the water; let them simmer gently for 40–50 minutes until they’re tender, then purée them in a food processor or blender.

Meanwhile, put the onion in a non-stick pan, cover and cook gently for about 7 minutes, until the onion is tender and lightly browned, stirring from time to time. Add the carrot, stir, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and flour, cook for a minute or two, then gradually pour in the split pea purée, stirring until you have a smooth mixture. Let the soup simmer for 5–10 minutes to cook the flour, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. This makes quite a thick soup; if you want it thinner you can always add more liquid.

spanish chick pea soup (#ulink_8ce20c8c-7d01-51d5-86dc-1ad74952bf32)

Traditionally this would be made with dried chick peas (garbanzo beans) but I’ve adapted the method and timings for the canned variety. Look out for the organic ones which are now becoming widely available.

serves 4

1 onion, chopped

1 potato, peeled and cut into 1cm/

/

in dice

2 carrots, cut into 5cm/

/

in slices

1 large garlic clove, chopped