Have you been following the Food Matters Project? I’m not entirely sure if there are any rules to it, but I saw recently they made a tomato curry soup and with our recent trip to the asian food store I was inspired to use one of our cans of coconut milk and test it out.

We have a lot of red peppers at the moment because when I see them in the store I buy lots – sometimes it can be weeks before I see them again. So this curry turned into a real hearty vegetable curry with my favourite outstanding flavours being the tomato and the red pepper (and obviously the coconut milk!).

It’s not so much a soup…rather a stew – but you can adjust the amount of coconut milk and stock to your liking. I ate this over some quinoa, Ivan ate it with some brown rice and then we had it again for dinner without the added grains and it was like a chunky soup. It’s really really tasty.

Red Pepper & Tomato Curry (soup or stew)
Serves 5 pretty hungry people and one hungry little baby.

• One large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
•  1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 potato (or sweet potato) chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers (capsicums), chopped
• 4 peeled and chopped tomatoes + 1/4 cup tomato puree (OR 1-2 cans of tomatos with their juice)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2-3 cups home-made vegetable stock or water
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
• 2 handfuls spinach

Heat a large pot and throw in the onion, garlic and ginger. Stir quickly so it doesn’t burn and keep stirring until they turn soft. If it starts to burn, add a little water or turn the heat down slightly.

All the spices and stir to coat everything.

Now add the potato, carrot and bell peppers and cook til they’re a bit softer.

Add the tomatoes + puree or canned tomatoes + juice, the coconut milk and stock or water. Cook for around 15 minutes and then add cauliflower. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so and then add the spinach. Stir until the spinach has wilted and then serve on quinoa, brown rice or on its own!

Find more recipes filed under Main Meals, Soup

I’ve never really thought much of cauliflower. My mum never made it much when I was a kid and although people would always say “oh but it’s so good with a white cheese sauce”, the sound of a ‘white cheese sauce’ never really sounded very appealing. But so in my current obsession with roasting everything I have discovered that cauliflower is actually quite glorious. It’s a bit earthy, a bit nutty and a bit smooth. I’ve heard that cauliflower is high in vitamin C (like 1/2 a cup is 45% of your recommended intake), high in Vitamin K (anti-inflammatory) and also helps prevent disease. I haven’t done extensive study into this, but you can check out some facts here here and here if you’re interested. I say woop woop to anything that tastes good and is apparently good for you. High five!

Either way, this soup is brilliant. It can be as smooth or as chunky as you like and the flavours are deep and comforting and perfect for a cold night. If (like us) you’ll be eating it on a hot day, you can add something cold and refreshing to the top (we added chopped cucumber). Otherwise I imagine that freshly baked bread would be perfect.

Roasted & Curried Cauliflower Soup

• Large cauliflower, cut into florets
• 4 cloves garlic
• cumin
• oil

• 2 tsp coconut oil (or any oil will do)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp curry
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 cups vegetable stock (+ water if needed)
• salt/pepper to taste

Heat oven to around 200 C.

Lightly oil a baking tray and lay the chopped cauliflower and whole cloves of garlic onto it. Sprinkle the cauliflower generously with cumin and drizzle with a little oil. Put in the oven for around 30-45 minutes. Once it’s done, take out and allow to cool.

In a big pot suitable for cooking soups, heat some coconut oil. Throw in the onion and celery and let it get soft. Throw the roasted garlic in there too. Now add the ginger and the spices and stir it all around, careful that it doesn’t burn!

Add the roasted cauliflower, the coconut milk and the stock. Bring it to a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, remove from heat and then use an immersion blender (or a proper blender) to make it as smooth/chunky as you like. If it’s too thick, add some water/stock until it’s the consistency you like. Add salt/pepper to taste and serve!

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