THAI SPICED CARROT AND CORIANDER SOUP

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Carrots: high in fibre, vitamin C and betacarotene.

Carrots: high in fibre, vitamin C and betacarotene.

Serves 4

 This is a delicious twist on the traditional carrot and coriander soup with a lot more zing!

It’s nice to make this with all the fresh ingredients but if you don’t have all the Thai flavours in your local shops (I go to the Chinese supermarket in my nearest city centre’s China town) you could substitute the ginger, chilli, lemongrass, sugar and fish sauce for a shop-bought Thai green curry sauce – 21 large tablespoon should do.

Personally I love the flavour that fish sauce gives to Thai food but if you want a vegetarian soup then that can easily be done by substituting the fish sauce for the soya sauce.

Carrots are high in fibre which is great for keeping the gut healthy and for helping to reduce cholesterol levels.  They also contain plenty of vitamin C, an antioxidant which help to reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer, and Betacarotene – a form of Vitamin A which helps to protect the eyes and improves night vision – so there IS some truth to the fact that carrots help you see in the dark!!!

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½-1 red chilli, finely sliced

½ inch ginger root, peeled and finely chopped

1 large white onion, chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, finely sliced

1 tsp. brown sugar

400g carrots, peeled and chopped

2 tsp. ground coriander

½ tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. fish sauce (optional, if you want it to be vegetarian use 1 tsp. soya sauce)

800ml vegetable stock, made with 1 x 10g vegetable stock cube

200ml of coconut milk

1 handful of fresh coriander, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

    • In a large saucepan heat the oil over a medium heat.  Add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for 30-60 seconds to infuse the oil with their flavour.
    • Add the chopped onion, lemongrass and sugar and continue to fry until the onions are softened and starting to brown slightly.

     

    • Add the carrots and the ground coriander and turmeric. Fry for approximately 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously to prevent the spices from burning.

     

    • Add the fish sauce and vegetable stock. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are cooked.
    • Add the coconut milk and stir through.

     

    • Blend the soup to a fine consistency using a hand blender.  Stir in the chopped fresh coriander and the soup is ready to eat!

ADDITIONAL IDEAS

  • Half a Peshwari naan bread – 65g (the ones with coconut and raisins) goes really, really well with this soup. You can buy them ready made and packaged in most supermarkets

= adds 178 kcal, 38.1g carbohydrate, 3.4g fat, 4.5g protein, 1.5g fibre

  • Add a handful of red or yellow split peas or lentils with the stock. This will add extra fibre and B vitamins.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

per whole recipe

 Energy                         483 kcal / 2021 kJ

Carbohydrate              73.5g

Fat                               16.6g

Protein                         10.2g

Total sugar                  52.9g

Saturates                    2.2g

Fibre                            23.0g

Salt                              5.9g

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

per serving (if serving 4)

 Energy                         121 kcal / 505 kJ

Carbohydrate              18.4g

Fat                               4.2g

Protein                         2.6g

Total sugar                  13.2g

Saturates                    0.6g

Fibre                            5.8g

Salt                              1.5g