Swiss Chard and Coconut Soup
Today's recipe from The Soup Book is by Sarah Raven, who was involved in a BBC documentary called Bees, Butterflies and Blooms. So there you have it! This entry has already mentioned bees! Back to the business in hand. The ingredients for this soup include Swiss chard (or spinach), Red Giant mustard (or kale or more chard), onions, garlic, vegetable stock and coconut milk. I bought the chard and spinach yesterday at Meeting House Square, having decided to substitute the latter for Red Giant mustard.
The younger offspring gave me a hand to prepare the chard and spinach by shredding the leaves once I'd pulled them off the stalks. The rest of the prep work and cooking was straightforward: peeling and chopping the onion and garlic, sweating them, adding the leaves, stock and coconut milk, and pureeing the lot before serving. The spouse wasn't too keen on the soup but preferred the thin texture to that of yesterday's nettle soup: "I like thicker soups to have bits in them." The younger offspring agreed with my view that thinner soups lend themselves better to containing bits and lumps! My first impression of this soup was that it was rather bland, but by the time I had finished my bowlful, I liked it. Having read about Giant Red mustard leaves, I think that using them would result in a very different taste. So, I'm putting this soup on my "make again" list but would try different combinations of leaves.
That's all for now.
Minnie
P.S. I told my sister J'Zo about yesterday's nettle soup. She expressed surprise and scorn at my having paid for nettles when I could have picked them for free! I explained why I'd bought them (in order to ensure they were clean). She also wondered why anyone would want to eat nettles, but I know that by experimenting with unusual plants I have booked my place on any post-apocalyptic cookery team!
The younger offspring gave me a hand to prepare the chard and spinach by shredding the leaves once I'd pulled them off the stalks. The rest of the prep work and cooking was straightforward: peeling and chopping the onion and garlic, sweating them, adding the leaves, stock and coconut milk, and pureeing the lot before serving. The spouse wasn't too keen on the soup but preferred the thin texture to that of yesterday's nettle soup: "I like thicker soups to have bits in them." The younger offspring agreed with my view that thinner soups lend themselves better to containing bits and lumps! My first impression of this soup was that it was rather bland, but by the time I had finished my bowlful, I liked it. Having read about Giant Red mustard leaves, I think that using them would result in a very different taste. So, I'm putting this soup on my "make again" list but would try different combinations of leaves.That's all for now.
Minnie
P.S. I told my sister J'Zo about yesterday's nettle soup. She expressed surprise and scorn at my having paid for nettles when I could have picked them for free! I explained why I'd bought them (in order to ensure they were clean). She also wondered why anyone would want to eat nettles, but I know that by experimenting with unusual plants I have booked my place on any post-apocalyptic cookery team!
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