'Souper' swede

Swede gets a bit of a bad deal really, I think.

Relegated to being confused with turnips, lumped into that class of 'root veg' that no none really knows what to do with, not the most attractive vegetable on the block.

I'm as guilty as anyone else of this, but this last winter, it's been apparent that the kids really like it - when they have turned their noses up at other 'sweet' veg like sweet potato and butternut squash, they somehow seem to really like the taste of swede, which I think is also quite sweet. They have enjoyed it mashed with haggis and in pasties.

I got a swede in my veg box last week, and was thinking of other possibilities to make a star of it. Nothing inspirational came to mind, but based on on a recipe I saw in Rose Elliot's rather fabulous 30 Minute Vegetarian book, I made this soup.

 

Yes, I know it doesn't look like much (why do you think I put it in a pretty mug for the photo?) but adding cinammon and cumin really makes this into quite delicious soup. Even I was surprised by how tasty it was - almost like chestnut in its velvetiness, and very comforting. The Husband was very rude on Twitter about how excited I got with the results, and had the temerity to talk about turnip soup as if I was recreating something from the gulag, but believe me, not him (and anyway, he's away for a week so I can eat it to my heart's content).

And yes, it's 5:2 friendly. 425ml of this rocks up at a mere 71 calories.

Cinammon Swede Soup

500g swede (peeled weight)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
5ml olive oil
2 kallo organic veg stock cubes made up with 1.5 litres boiling water
a sprinkling each of ground cinammon and cumin

Gently heat the oil in a large pan, then add the swede, onion and celery and sweat gently for 5-10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Sprinkle in the cinammon and cumin, stir and cook for a couple of minutes then add in the stock, some salt and pepper, bring tot he boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes till the swede is cooked.

Blitz.

You could serve with some Greek yoghurt in it, or some toasted cumin seeds - or even both. Rose Elliot fries onions and cumin seed to garnish hers with, and I bet that would be delicious too.