Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

Easy Spinach and Pea Soup

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Spinach – Love or Hate?

I have always loved spinach and green peas in equal measure but when it comes to the hubster, well… let us just say that I have put in a lot of hard work to cultivate a growing love affair with spinach! This soup is great for fussy eaters and especially for those who do not enjoy the flavour of spinach. The gorgeous smoky bacon beautifully masks the taste of spinach by adding strong bursts of flavour. Adding oak-smoked garlic packs an additional punch and gives the soup a lovely layer of flavour.

This Spinach and Green pea soup with smoky bacon is not just healthy and wholesome, it’s really easy to make. It’s the kind that will leave those who are not spinach aficionados playing a guessing game with their taste buds!

I could almost imagine my husband in a cartoon strip with those little conversation bubbles over his head with each conversation bubble having a different ingredient scrawled inside, as all those wonderful flavours enveloped his palate one after the other!

Of all the meats out there, I really think pork is very succulent and has the capacity to really alter the taste of a dish and add a whole new dimension. I also firmly believe that simplicity is the key to creating something really tasty. Therefore, the use of everyday stuff like red onions and garlic to quickly make this soup appeals to my midweek lazy self as it can really fill you up. On the weekend though I would serve this soup with a generous portion of white fish, with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, chives and some dried herbs and a big squeeze of lime with a side of rocket dressed with olive oil and honey mustard dressing. Accompanied by a crisp white wine it is a complete meal and one that is not just quick and easy to put together but a great way to eat healthily and keep the guilt conscience at bay. Much needed after a period of indulgence I say, of course with no compromise on taste!

Spinach and Pea Soup

Hearty, flavourful soup loaded with all the good stuff from spinach, perfect to batch cook, great for cold nights in.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 350 gm Spinach baby leaves washed cleaned and roughly chopped
  • 250 gm Fresh Green Peas
  • 3/4th Onion finely chopped
  • 5 Smoked Bacon medallions chopped roughly into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 tbsp Chives – chopped roughly
  • 300 ml Chicken Stock
  • 400 ml Water
  • 2 tsp Oil
  • 3 cloves Smoked black garlic
  • Salt to taste
  • Few sprigs Spring onions chopped fine for  garnishing the soup 
  • Handful Herby Bread Croutons

Equipment

  • 1 Saucepan
  • 1 Knife
  • 1 Chopping Board
  • 1 Hand blender or food processor

Method
 

  1. In a large saucepan sautee’ the finely chopped oak-smoked garlic till it begins to sweat. Then add the red onion finely chopped and cook till it turns pink and juicy.
  2. Reduce the flame to a minimum and add the bite-sized pieces of smoked bacon medallions.
  3. Stir now and then to ensure that the bacon doesn’t stick to the saucepan and become too crisp, it must cook to a nice chewy yummy consistency and not get too crisp. Cook without a lid at this stage.
  4. When the bacon has cooked completely and is almost turning crisp, remove this mixture into a bowl as we will use the same saucepan for preparing the rest of the ingredients of the soup so as to retain the beautiful juicy goodness that is in the pan and that also ensures we don’t use anymore extra oil.
  5. Wash the baby spinach leaves and the green peas and add them into the saucepan along with the finely chopped chives and chicken stock. In case you are using stock cubes, I would say use the reduced salt variety because the smoked bacon is very salty already.
  6. Add 300ml water and cook with lid on a medium flame for 25 minutes.
  7. Puree the soup with a hand blender and add a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper and some sea salt – I am stingy with the salt because I like to keep the salt to minimum when I am cooking anything withba bacon as an ingredient.
  8. When the soup has been pureed, don’t fuss if a fewstray green peas escape the blender blades, it just makes the soup that muchmore wholesome and chewy while eating.
  9. Now add in the garlic, red onion and bacon mixture and cook for another 7- 10 minutes.
  10. Serve hot topped with a big spoon of chopped spring onion and herby croutons.
  11. Perfect for an early supper with crusty bread and even better with a grilled white fish and white wine for a weekend meal.
Spinach and Pea soup ingredients close-up

Make it Vegan!

Go ahead and make this recipe vegan!

  • Swap Smoked bacon with smoked tempeh or pan-fried chestnut mushrooms for an earthy flavour, and throw in some cooked chestnuts for good measure.
  • Swap chicken stock for vegetable stock

Recipe Notes

  • Smoked Garlic and smoked bacon add layers of flavour to this humble but earthy soup.
  • Make the soup as per the recipe, leaving out the part with the onions, garlic, and bacon, this part with the greens and stock can be cooked in a large batch and frozen in batches, neatly labelled.
  • For a milder flavour use white onion instead of red onions or Bombay Onions.
  • Need a fridge tray clear-out? All your greens going mangy can be used up – think broccoli, kale, coriander steams, cavolo nero, chard, celery sticks, a small piece of fennel, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, a small portion of cabbage leaves on their last legs – give all of these greens a new lease on life! I have even added in some boiled potatoes and half an egg yolk into my soups to use up ingredients, ummm they taste sooo fab in soup!
  • Tart green apples also work wonderfully well in this soup.

Easy Swaps

  • Swap fresh green peas for frozen or canned ones.
  • Swap smoked bacon medallions smoked for bacon lardons.
Spinach and Pea Soup

WHILE YOU ARE HERE, BROWSE THROUGH MY OTHER SOUP RECIPES

BBQ pulled pork and aromatic Noodle soup

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Enjoy summery flavours mixed with a warming aromatic bowl of spicy noodle soup with Iceland Foods new BBQ Mississippi pulled pork from the World Famous Foods range

Winter evenings in February are always unpredictable, even though some days are warm, evenings are always chilly. During transition periods the trio of cold, cough and flu makes an appearance. At such times I mostly crave a hearty filling bowl of soupy noodles with a spicy zing and yesterday I had the perfect excuse – a chilly evening -and a freezer full of frozen delights from Iceland Foods World Famous Foods range. I cannot resist juicy BBQ pulled pork and thought an aromatic warming noodle soup topped with BBQ pulled pork was an apt choice – soup to warm your cockles and BBQ flavours to welcome the new season which is just around the corner.

Isn’t it great that you can enjoy summery flavours from across the world at any time you please by just stocking up your freezer with these delightfully diverse and flavoursome foods? The sheer convenience of having the #PowerofFrozen at your fingertips allowing you to create a whole host of budget-friendly, tasty meals that not only you and your family can enjoy but are perfect crowd-pleasers.

To make their frozen range even more convenient is the Chilled Life on the products, which clearly states how long a product can stay in the fridge to ensure that its high quality and taste are not impacted. The smart way to free up precious freezer space especially in the summer!

To make the meal healthy I used zero fat, low calorie and low carb, gluten-free noodles, and very little oil on high heat. You could swap the oil for a 1 cal oil spray too.

BBQ pulled pork Soup with aromatic low-carb, GF noodles

Iceland Foods has re-christened their slow-cooked range as the World famous foods range.

Manjiri Chitnis

BBQ pulled Pork and aromatic noodle soup

Easy recipe for Smoky BBQ pulled Pork in a delicious aromatic noodle soup
Print Recipe
Servings: 2 People
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 550 grams BBQ Mississippi Pulled Pork
  • 350 grams Beef stock from a 450 gm shop bought jar
  • 240 grams gm of mixed tender stem broccoli green beans, pak choi
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 pack bared naked noodles
  • 1/2 thumb-sized Cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 thumb-sized Ginger – peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 Thai red chilli – thinly sliced
  • 1/2 a stick of fresh fragrant lemongrass
  • 1/2 a medium sized red onion sliced lengthwise
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic deskinned and smashed roughly with the flat end of a knife
  • a pinch of brown castor sugar
  • Handful of fresh coriander roughly chopped
  • Some fresh chopped spring onion to garnish
  • 1 lime sliced into wedges
  • 2 medium boiled eggs

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Wok

Method
 

  1. Defrost the BBQ Mississippi pulled pork in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use
  2. Place for 40 mins at 180 °C in a pre-heated oven
  3. While the pork is heating in the oven, start with the noodle preparation
  4. Heat a wok on medium heat
  5. When the wok is hot add sesame oil and add the cinnamon, garlic, ginger and red onion
  6. Cook on medium heat until the garlic and red onion turn a nice brown, then add the green beans and broccoli
  7. Stir fry the green for about a minute on medium low heat before pouring in the beef stock
  8. Add some water to thicken the stock if it is too thick and then added the cooked noodles. Throw in the sliced lemongrass stalk and sugar
  9. If you are using noodles that need to be cooked beforehand, simply follow pack instructions.
  10. I used Barenaked Noodles as they are zero fat, low in calories and extremely low carb
  11. Add the pak choi and cook covered on a low heat for about one minute
  12. To serve, add the noodle soup in each bowl then garnish with fresh coriander and some chopped spring onion. Place about 2 heaped tbsp of pulled pork in each bowl
  13. Serve with a wedge of lime
  14. Serve hot
BBQ Mississippi Pulled Pork
BBQ Mississippi Pulled Pork
BBQ Pulled Pork aromatic spicy noodle soup

Both hubby and I loved the thick and flavourful rich BBQ sauce and used some of the leftover sauce to drizzle over mushrooms stuffed with mature cheddar and oven cooked with just a spritz of chilli garlic oil – the result was mouth watering!

BBQ Pulled Pork spicy noodle soup

The entire range of World famous foods is available in stores at Iceland Foods from 20th Feb’17. The World famous range includes: Hoisin Duck Wings, OHSicilian Half Chicken, BBQ Mississippi Pulled Pork, BBQ Texan Down & Dirty Pulled Brisket, BBQ Memphis Baby Back Ribs, Minted Lamb Shanks, Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Leg. To find out more head to the Iceland Foods site here.

LOOKING FOR EASY TO MAKE, DELICIOUS SOUP AND STEW RECIPES? WHY NOT BROWSE THROUGH SOME OF MY EASY TO FOLLOW RECIPES:

This post was commissioned by Iceland Foods. As always all opinions are always my own.

Tomato and Lentil Soup

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Sometimes the guilt of eating too many wrong things just gets to me and I need to balance the scales internally. This calls for a comforting and filling soupy treat with a pinch of something yum thrown in. Also, all those gorgeous cherry tomatoes and vine tomatoes sitting in my fridge were begging to used -asap or risk being dumped into my green food recycle bag. Thrifty that I am, I will not allow that to happen in my kitchen! And I always turn to my stored lentils for something comforting and homely.

This recipe is perfect for making ahead in a larger batch and freeze some for later.

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Manjiri Chitnis

Tomato and Lentil Soup

5 from 7 votes
Wholesome and delicious, this vegetarian and vegan friendly recipe is as easy on the tummy as it is on the pocket
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Fusion Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup Red Lentils/Masoor split without skin
  • 1/4 cup Yellow Lentil/Moong – split without skin
  • 4 – 5 medium-sized Tomatoes
  • 1 pinch Asafoetida
  • 2 Red Onions
  • 5 – 6 Garlic cloves
  • 2 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 2 tsp Cumin Powder
  • ½ Thum-sized Fresh Ginger – peeled
  • 2-3 Cloves
  • 1 tsp Pepper powder
  • Red chilli flakes – optional
  • 3 large tbsp Oil for frying
  • 1 tbsp oil for the tadka
  • Salt to taste

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker / Heavy-bottomed pan
  • Knife and chopping board
  • Kadhai or any pan
  • Potato masher or a large ladle
  • Blender / Mixer

Method
 

  1. Wash the lentil through a sieve and pressure cook – 3 whistles
  2. Let the steam escape and then loosen cooker lid
  3. Remove cooked lentils and allow to cool completely
  4. If you are not a pressure cooker lover then cook the lentils in a big saucepan with exactly two times the water than the quantity of the lentils
  5. Lentils cook quickly in a pan, cover and cook and keep an eye as water may boil over
  6. Finely chop red onions chopped into long slivers
  7. Chop the tomatoes into 4 pieces – just for ease of blending
  8. In a kadhai or wok heat the 3 tbsp oil and deep fry the garlic chopped into fine strips
  9. Add the red onions and sauté are absolutely crisp, the aroma is delicious
  10. Puree the washed tomatoes with the deep-fried red onion and garlic (leave some for garnishing)
  11. Use a potato masher ( or the back of a large ladle) and roughly squash the cooked and cooled lentils and mix them with the tomatoes puree
  12. In the same kadhai/wok or pan used to fry the onions and garlic – heat about 1 to 1.5 tsp oil
  13. Add asafoetida, whole cumin, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, cloves
  14. Sauté the spices in the oil for under a minute
  15. Add the cooked lentils and tomato puree
  16. Add water if the mixture is too thick
  17. Cover and cook on a low flame for 5 -8 minutes
  18. Season with salt as per taste
  19. Garnished with the remaining crispy fried onion and garlic bits
  20. Sprinkle some freshly cracked pepper
  21. Serve hot
  22. Best accompanied by hot buttered toast

Wholemeal bread, a crusty baguette, or a soft cheesy loaf – all make for great accompaniments with this soup. Indulge yourself by adding a blob of butter on top of the soup before serving.

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Tomato and Lentil soupy broth

Red Lentil Soup

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I tried to write this blog post sometime after ma came home from the hospital but things were a bit topsy turvy but here it is now!

Sometime in November in India…..

”My ma’s bff’s have been pampering her a lot and have been a bunch of real sweethearts. One of her friends who we shall call Aunty A, came over last week and got her some heartwarming veg soup among some other goodies.

All the medications have killed ma’s taste buds and her appetite to an extent so this soup was a wonderful new bouquet of mild but delicious flavours for her. AM has agreed to share some of her other recipes as well including one which helped her the first prize in a cooking contest! Whoops! How I love all of ma’s buddies – all such passionate foodies 😉

Ok so here’s how you can create this Masoor dal or Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup red lentil dal
  • 1/2 a red onion
  • 1 tomato
  • 1/2 a potato boil
  • Salt as per taste
  • Pepper to garnish
  • 1/2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
  • Few whole cloves/lavang
  • 1 cinnamon stick/dalchini
  • Water as required
  • some unsalted butter to slather an accompanying slice of toasted brown bread

Method:

  • In a vessel add the lentils and roughly chopped onion, tomato, and potato(peeled and roughly chopped) and add enough water to soak them.
  • Boil the red lentil ,onion ,tomato, and potato in a cooker. Give it 3 whistles
  • After the steam releases from the cooker  and the lid comes off easily, allow the mixture to cool down completely.
  • Puree in mixer/food processor , add some more water to adjust to a soup lile consistency and garnish with salt n pepper.
  • In a saucepan add 1/2 a tsp of ghee /clarified butter ,on a medium heat ,add dalchini/ cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves/lavang.
  • Reduce the heat to a minimum and now the tadka is ready, carefully pour the puree from the food processor/mixer into the clarified butter and spice tadka as it may sputter.
  • Serve the soup hot with a lightly buttered slice of brown bread ideally with unsalted butter.”

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I am entering this delicious and healthy Red Lentil Soup recipe into one of my favourite foodie link up’s hosted by Jacqueline Meldrum of Tinned Toms and Lisa of Lisa’s Kitchen aka Food and Spice alternatively. It’s easy peasy just go to Lisa’s blog as she is the host for May 2015 and add in your recipe post to the linky, then link to both Lisa and Jaq’s blogs as I have done and add the No Croutons logo to your post, all done! Any Salad or soup will do but only one post per blogger, also watch out for the round-up done after the 28th of each month.

no+croutons+required

Red Lentil Soup

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