Homemade Broccoli and Stilton soup.

Just made from scratch. No recipe.

I used

A tablespoon full of olive oil

Half a small red onion, chopped

Half a courgette, grated (zucchini)

A teaspoon of lazy garlic

About a third of a head of Brocolli, chopped finely

A heaped teaspoon of flour

About a 1/4 pint of cream

About a 1/4 pint of water

About 1/4 pint of milk

About 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of crumbled Stilton.

A slice of brown bread.

Salt and pepper to taste

Prep time and cooking took 25 to 30 minutes.

Makes enough for a large bowl of soup.

Method

Put the oil in pan on low heat. Add the lazy garlic and chopped onion.

Cook on a low heat to soften the onions. Stir gently to stop anything sticking or burning.

Add the grated courgette and simmer for a bit while stirring until the mixture cooks. When the courgette softens add the Brocolli and about 1/4 pint of water to cover the contents.

Continue to simmer on a low heat while the vegetables cook.

Meanwhile mix about a teaspoon of flour and 1/4  pint of milk and 1/4 pint  of double  cream into a paste. Pour off some of the liquid from the pan into a cup and let it cool slightly.

At this stage add the Stilton to the pan and allow it to melt gently.

Then slowly add the the liquid to the flour mix. Once it’s mixed and is a smooth liquid you can pour it into the pan of cooked veg and Stilton.

Simmer till the soup thickens and looks creamy. Add salt and pepper at this stage. It means it’s flavoured without getting absorbed into the veg so is healthier, less sodium.

Serve in a large bowl with a slice of brown bread or whatever you prefer.

It was tasty and warm. Just right for a tasty meal on a cold evening. The cream makes it smooth and works well with the Stilton without it splitting. I enjoyed it.

Chopped

Thursdays #bandofsketchers prompt was chopped. I could have drawn a can of chopped tomatoes, or a tree chopped down. But I wanted to play with ideas so I sketched a loaf chopped in half, I was using the various digital drawing apps that I have on my phone. Seeing if I could import the image between each of them!

Tasty beans?

I like baked beans but I’ve started eating sugar free ones and I wanted to spice them up a bit.

I heated a bit of oil in a saucepan then added a small amount of medium curry powder and turmeric powder and heated it gently.

I had chopped up a small onion into medium sized pieces. I microwaved it for a minute to soften it slightly, then added the heated onion to the pan and cooked it gently for a few more minutes to soften and brown the onion (sweated?).

Then I added the sugar free baked beans into the pan and increased the heat slightly. I simmered the mixture for a few minutes until it was thoroughly heated.

We had the beans with some vegetarian sausages and some reduced fat oven chips. Tasty! No photo of the meal as its already been eaten!

I don’t put salt in because it dissolves and gets absorbed into the food. I put it on if needed when I serve food. Its on the surface and you can taste it more.