Soupy Sundays

Despite my comments earlier this week about my healthy influence on hot doc I have to admit he's actually a very good influence on me too.

I probably have healthier eating intentions than he does, but he's much more useful than me in the kitchen and much more organised about what he eats.

This evening when I got home late from work I scarfed down some sardines and avocado on toast and fruit salad whilst stood up making my breakfast for lunch tomorrow. Definitely breaking all my usual advice about eating slowly sat down at a table!

In contrast hot doc is much more organised and usually has something healthy defrosting in the fridge awaiting him when he's home from a late shift. Along with freezing stews and curries he also freezes batches of veggie soup.

Vegetables are the healthiest thing you can eat and fresh veggie soups make a filling and healthy addition to any dinner, but for some reason I don't eat them that often. I think this is partly a time thing, if it takes more than half an hour to cook it's probably not going to get made on a weeknight. However if you make a big batch of soup on a Sunday you can freeze portions for the rest of the week and defrost them during the day for your dinner.

To get you started here's an easy and tasty recipe for red pepper and tomato soup, courtesy of hot doc of course!

For most of us this weekend is a long weekend so tomorrow is effectively Friday which means I'll be enjoying the long weekend and blogging again on Tuesday!

Happy Easter and enjoy your chocolate eggs!

Red pepper and tomato soup

Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped

2 large red peppers, seeds removed and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

600g (21oz) ripe tomatoes, quartered

1 x 400g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes

1l chicken stock or vegetable stock

1tbsp chopped fresh basil, to garnish

Method:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Sauté the onion, peppers, garlic and chilli for about 5 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Add the tinned tomatoes, the stock and a cup of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. Purée the soup in batches in a food processor or with a hand-held blender.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot, and garnished with the basil / coriander and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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