In my never ending quest to keep "The Child Who Cannot be Filled" happy, I'm onto my I don't know how many it is pots of soup this winter???!!! He seems to love it, and I must say it is pretty good for him - the only real hassle for me is getting up each morning and warming up the thermos and the soup for him.
The other big challenge of course is coming up with a new soup each week - especially ones that are not creamy, or if they are, making modifications to them.
I just love pea and ham soup, I have already made a batch of that so far in this quest, but this recipe took my eye. It is Ham and Red Lentil Soup. Using the red lentils as opposed to the peas makes it lower in GI - which is always a good thing. So this soup is great for those people out there that have diabetes, or are following a low GI diet. Following a diet that is rich in foods with a low GI means that you will achieve a better blood sugar level control. Foods that have a high GI rating give the blood sugar a rising spike in levels - rising quickly and then dropping just as quickly, leaving you craving more food. The key to controlling food cravings lies in trying to eat foods that are lower in GI.
Ham and Red Lentil Soup
From Super Food Ideas Magazine - July issue
Serves 4
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped (use leaves too)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 litres chicken stock (salt reduced)
100g piece of leg ham *
1 cup red lentils
chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until the onion has softened.
Increase the heat to high. Add the stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the ham and lentils. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
Remove the ham from the pan and shred the meat using two forks. Return the ham to the saucepan.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Served garnished with chopped parsley.
* check out your local deli or deli counter in the supermarket. More often than not you can buy large chunks of off cuts of ham (and usually very cheaply). These chunks are great for using on pizzas, in risottos and even in soups!!!
I did make the soup in the Thermomix - just chopped up all the vegetables and then proceeded to cook for 25 minutes at varoma temperature, speed 1. There was a little too much liquid - so I had to remove the MC and place the basket over the hole to avoid the eruptions!!!!
Another lovely winter warmer!! This soup was great - it still had all the lovely flavours of pea and ham soup - but it just wasn't as thick and stodgy as some pea and ham soups can be!!!
The boy was happy - so I was too!!
The other big challenge of course is coming up with a new soup each week - especially ones that are not creamy, or if they are, making modifications to them.
I just love pea and ham soup, I have already made a batch of that so far in this quest, but this recipe took my eye. It is Ham and Red Lentil Soup. Using the red lentils as opposed to the peas makes it lower in GI - which is always a good thing. So this soup is great for those people out there that have diabetes, or are following a low GI diet. Following a diet that is rich in foods with a low GI means that you will achieve a better blood sugar level control. Foods that have a high GI rating give the blood sugar a rising spike in levels - rising quickly and then dropping just as quickly, leaving you craving more food. The key to controlling food cravings lies in trying to eat foods that are lower in GI.
Ham and Red Lentil Soup
From Super Food Ideas Magazine - July issue
Serves 4
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped (use leaves too)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 litres chicken stock (salt reduced)
100g piece of leg ham *
1 cup red lentils
chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until the onion has softened.
Increase the heat to high. Add the stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the ham and lentils. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
Remove the ham from the pan and shred the meat using two forks. Return the ham to the saucepan.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Served garnished with chopped parsley.
* check out your local deli or deli counter in the supermarket. More often than not you can buy large chunks of off cuts of ham (and usually very cheaply). These chunks are great for using on pizzas, in risottos and even in soups!!!
I did make the soup in the Thermomix - just chopped up all the vegetables and then proceeded to cook for 25 minutes at varoma temperature, speed 1. There was a little too much liquid - so I had to remove the MC and place the basket over the hole to avoid the eruptions!!!!
The boy was happy - so I was too!!
I'm on such a soup kick too! It seems no meal is complete without a steaming bowl of delicious soup these days! This looks fabulous :)
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