This tasty veggie soup makes use of an ingredient that perhaps you haven’t before, the stems and stalks of a cauliflower head. I actually prefer the taste of the stems to the florets!
Makes 4 servings
- 150g onion, peeled and chopped
- 200g carrot, diced, no need to peel
- 300g potatoes, no need to peel, give them a good wash tho, don’t want any grit
- 600g cauliflower, whole cauli weighing 800g
- 400g tin of chick peas, drained, or dried ones soaked and cooked
- dumplings
- 60g flour
- 25ml oil
If you are following the week three meal planner, the cauliflower needs to be about 800g altogether. In this recipe you need to use mostly the stalks and stems, the cauliflower florets will be used in the Meatless Sunday Lunch. Or you could just chop the cauli and use some stems and stalk in the Sunday lunch too, I like stems/stalk in white sauce, you may prefer the florets
Saute all the vegetables for the soup in a little oil until soft. Add 1.5 litres water and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the dumplings together, adding enough water, you won’t need much, to make a soft dough.
Do you like your soup smooth or with bits?
Now it depends on how you like your soup. If you like a smooth soup, you could whizz it now and add the chick peas afterwards, or add them and whizz those as well. Or you could leave the whole thing as it is, or you could stick the whizzer in and pulse it until the soup is how you like it. Completely up to you
Season the soup with salt and pepper. Add a stock cube if you like and if you have some.
Pinch hazelnut sized pieces of dumpling mix and pop them in the top of the soup, and simmer for 5 minutes until they are cooked through.
How to vary the soup
Mixed vegetable soup, which is what this is, is infinitely variable.
- You could use any veg in the fridge in the soup and it almost certainly will taste fine.
- A tsp of curry powder or garam masala makes a good addition to this, or individual spices, maybe ginger and turmeric, or cumin and coriander
- You could use croutons instead of dumplings
- A swirl of nice olive oil, yogurt or cream over the top would make it look fancy
that’s a useful tip, thankyou. Dried herbs is a good idea too, a bit of extra flavour in the mix
strange how they don’t have that funny taste of too much BP, maybe it disappears into the soup
Forgot to say that 1 tablespoon flour is about the right amount for too people. Multiply up as necessary.
Dumplings: Years ago, I got the recipe for Jamaican Dumplings from a 70s Friends of the Earth book and have used this version ever since. There is no added fat so lower calorie as well as lower cost.
Use 1 tablespoon flour (either plain or SR) and mix with 1 teaspoon baking powder. ( I was loath to try at first because of this ratio but it does work without any funny taste. If you use a bit too much BP with eg scones, they have a vile taste but these dumplings are fine) Mix to a slightly damp dough with either milk or water. Plop teaspoons of the dough on the top of simmering soup for about 10 minutes until big and fluffy. I like to add a pinch of mixed herbs to the flour too.