The idea for simple soups for one came about because I am not Rebecca, at the moment I am a hamster stuck in a wheel, a tired, unkempt hamster devoid of nutritional value to its diet leaving it sluggish, spotty, damaged nails and the return of the dreaded reflux.
Cheerful paragraph to open with that?
It’s the truth, once again I have lost my way, my mojo was back for all of two seconds and then POOF gone, like a poofy thing.
I’ve had a little epiphany in that fact that to look after my family better, I need to be better and lead by example
You bloody liar! I can count three, no four people who have said that to you recently.
Okay, okay, so it was an epiphany that I suddenly accepted the advice and agreed with it; is that better?
I guess so!
Anyway, back to the simple soups for one! I actually really like soup, us girls grew up on what we fondly nicknamed ‘gruel’ it was a simple chicken soup made with the carcass of a chicken, boiled, picked, strained and then packed with any veg available, blended, chicken meat thrown back in, seasoned and tah-dah; Gruel!
My kids don’t like it (sigh), the husband isn’t keen (bigger sigh) so when I do make it on very rare occasions I freeze a gazillion tubs of the stuff, or have been known to give some to my sister. With my light bulb moment I decided to sod the family and make myself some delicious soups for one, jar them up and eat one-a-day either for lunch or dinner while they tuck into their same-ole, same-ole dinners that I’ve resigned myself to cook to keep the peace, appease the sensory issues and ensure that the diabetic one ACTUALLY eats her dinner and doesn’t push it around the plate AFTER blousing and needing to eat the carbs in front of her or else she’ll have a bloody hypo! (gasp for air)
Hope you’re still with me and haven’t passed out after reading that relatively punctuation-free paragraph.
Before I get to the 5 recipes for my soups for one let me dangle a little carrot under your nose to get your taste buds limbered up. Scrap the carrot, I’m actually talking about bread, crusty, I mean proper crusty bread that even I can make! I’ve tweeted and instagrammed about Grass Roots Bakery before and if you follow me on Instagram you will probably have noticed a few instastories of late with me getting overly excited about my bread making skills. I say skills, the bread mixes are simple as bleep! Empty packet into bowl, add tepid water, oil and egg (or in my case 60ml extra or water) and hey-presto you have bread dough, and get this; it actually doubles in size when you prove it for 40mins I KNOW! Gluten free bread that actually rises!
photo courtesy of Grass Roots Bakery
I’ll forgive (just this once mind) for thinking that I’ve been paid to write those nice things above, NOT TRUE! I actually really love Andrea’s mixes at Grass Roots Bakery and to prove it to you I bought a Gift Box with a brown and white bread mix tucked up inside for you to try too. I actually bought myself two large bags of each mix for myself at the same time and when I saw that gift boxes were available in the online shop one of the boxes fell into my cart accidentally-on-purpose!
So if you want to win these bread mixes then you’ll need to scroll to the bottom of this post, leave a lovely comment (you can leave a crappy one if you like, the winner is picked by a clever computer but I’d much rather a nice comment) and follow the instructions to enter as many times as you want to improve your chances. Good luck.
And now, without further ado, my 5 soups for one that happen to be naturally free from gluten, dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts and are vegan.
Just a flavoursome as my curried parsnip recipe, this roast parsnip soup is full of flavour without the added spice, perfect for children too, plus it's gluten free and vegan.
- 3 peeled parsnips roughly chopped
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- olive oil
- ½ garlic clove
- salt and pepper to taste
- pop the chopped parsnips on a baking tray with some olive oil and seasoning and roast for 40 mins at 200°C
- make your vegetable stock by following the instructions
- once roasted place the parsnip, half garlic clove, 300ml of vegetable stock and seasoning in a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Add fresh or dried parsley if you wish
- Pour into a 500ml jar and seal immediately
- Allow to cool before popping in the fridge
To reheat your soups simple pop in the microwave until heated through or bring to the desired heat in a saucepan. Enjoy with a delicious crusty roll plastered in dairy free spread!
One of my favourite comfort food recipes, this curried parsnip soup for one is easy to make with simple ingredients and it's added bonus is it's naturally gluten free and vegan too.
- 3 peeled parsnips roughly chopped
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- olive oil
- ¼ garlic clove
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- pop the chopped parsnips on a baking tray with some olive oil and seasoning and roast for 40 mins at 200°C
- make your vegetable stock by following the instructions
- once roasted place the parsnip, ¼ garlic clove, cumin, 300ml of vegetable stock and seasoning in a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Pour into a 500ml jar and seal immediately
- Allow to cool before popping in the fridge
To reheat your soups simple pop in the microwave until heated through or bring to the desired heat in a saucepan.
Enjoy with a delicious crusty roll plastered in dairy free spread!
A taste of the Mediterranean in this vibrant coloured bowl of tomato and red pepper soup for one, pure bliss. Even better, its vegan, gluten free and packed with vitamins too.
- 250 g vine ripe tomatoes
- 1 red pepper quartered and cored
- olive oil
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- ½ clove garlic
- 1 tsp dried or chopped fresh basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- pop the tomatoes (I keep mine on the vine) and pepper quarters on a baking tray with some olive oil and seasoning and roast for 40 mins at 200°C
- make your vegetable stock by following the instructions
- once roasted place the tomatoes and pepper, ½ garlic clove, basil, 300ml of vegetable stock and seasoning in a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Pour into a 500ml jar and seal immediately
- Allow to cool before popping in the fridge
To reheat your soups simple pop in the microwave until heated through or bring to the desired heat in a saucepan.
Enjoy with a delicious crusty roll plastered in dairy free spread!
A comforting butternut soup for one made even warmer by the smokey its undertones, this is ever so simple to make and it's dairy free, gluten free and vegan
- 1 small to medium butternut squash halved
- olive oil
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ clove garlic
- Pinch of Smoked salt not compulsory
- salt and pepper to taste
- pop the chopped parsnips on a baking tray with some olive oil and seasoning and roast for 40 mins at 200°C
- make your vegetable stock by following the instructions
- once roasted place the parsnip, half garlic clove, 300ml of vegetable stock and seasoning in a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Add fresh or dried parsley if you wish
- Pour into a 500ml jar and seal immediately
- Allow to cool before popping in the fridge
To reheat your soups simple pop in the microwave until heated through or bring to the desired heat in a saucepan.
Enjoy with a delicious crusty roll plastered in dairy free spread!