Hey, it's Sunday! Carrot and coriander soup

We've been having a very cold but bright autumn after a late and short Indian summer. From 25C + during the day, we're now waking up to -4C and having to scrape the ice from the windscreen every morning. Friends, it already feels like winter.

Anyway, we're keeping warm with more birthday cupcakes (the following are the same as last year's, I just use less icing sugar than Billy does)  and soups, and gearing up for Halloween. We went apple picking and are now munching our way through over ten kilos of locally and responsibly grown fruit.

Someone at work brought in Carrot and coriander soup out of a tetrapak, and I quite liked the idea of combining those flavours. Carrots are probably among the cheapest organic vegetables so I very often grab a bag while shopping, to make grated carrot salad or soup or use in whatever else I am making.

I looked up soup recipes online and came up with the following. You could up the coriander or use coconut milk in place of potatoes and cream, soups are versatile and difficult to mess up. You could also use curry powder or paste instead of just coriander, or use no spices at all to feed someone with a stomach bug.

Carrot and coriander soup

1 medium onion
2 average sized garlic cloves
1 kilo carrots
4 small/medium potatoes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 litre water/stock
a little milk/cream/crème fraîche
bunch fresh coriander


Cut up the onion and garlic and sweat gently in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Peel and slice the carrots and add to the pot. Do the same with the potatoes and let them cook with the lid on for 5 minutes before adding the ground coriander. Pour some hot water or stock and cover. Simmer gently for 30-45 minutes until everything is soft. Add a little cream or milk then purée with a mixing stab. Mix in the fresh coriander -if you're sure everyone is going to like it, otherwise serve the kids first- and keep a little for sprinkling on top of the steaming bowls.