Diet: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Paleo, Pescatarian, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Serves: 3
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Description

You can’t go wrong with a good old classic carrot and coriander soup!

What I love about a homemade soup is that is one of the healthiest meals you can make, rather than buying a tinned soup that tends to sneak in some hidden preservatives, often involving cream or milk which is not the best for those of you who are dairy free.

This recipe is super cheap to make, consisting of just 4 ingredients (if you don’t count the coconut oil).

A study showed that having a daily intake of carrots helps to increase antioxidant status within the body (Potter et al.2011). Meanwhile the coriander which has the perfect punch has ascribed anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anxiolytic, anti-epileptic, anti-depressant, anti-mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-dyslipidemic, anti-hypertensive, neuro-protective and diuretic properties. It has also been recognised for its lead-detoxifying potential. A herb that truly has a multitude of health benefits! (Sahib et al.2013).

Ingredients

• 650g carrots (peeled and sliced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 pint vegetable stock
• 1 handful chopped coriander (25g)

Method

1. Melt the coconut oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Once hot add the onion and fry for 5 minutes.
2. Pour 1 pint of the vegetable stock into the pan along with the carrots and allow to simmer on a medium heat for 20 minutes with a lid partly covering the pan.
3. Once the vegetables are soft, transfer the mix into a blender along with the remaining pint of vegetable stock and blend until smooth.
4. Put the coriander into the blender and pulse for 5 seconds, just so it breaks up enough to mix through the soup, and then its ready to serve.

 

References:

Sahib, NG. Anwar, F. Gilani, AH. Hamid, AA. et al. (2013). ‘Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.): a potential source of high-value components for functional foods and nutraceuticals–a review’,Phytother Res.(10) pp1439-56, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281145 (Accessed 13 January 2019).

Potter, A. Foroudi, S. Stamatikos, A. Patil, B. Deyhim, F. (2011). ‘Drinking Carrot Juice Increases Total Antioxidant Status and Decreases Lipid Peroxidation in Adults’, Nutri J. NCBI, [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3192732/ (Accessed 13 January 2019).