Today I invite you to take a trip to your fridge and clean it out properly. I hate food waste and make a fridge clean-out type of dish at least once a month to use up all the odd ends of produce that are still good, but maybe not for very long. I will go for a vacation soon and this means nobody will eat anything out of my fridge for the next few weeks. So everything that is there needs to be used before I leave!
I do share a recipe of what exactly went into my soup this time, but feel free to customize. In case you have any other veggies waiting to be used up – go for it! Carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, zucchini. They all work wonderfully! I usually always use onion in the base of my soups, but this time I did not have any. If you do, throw it in with leeks and celery. Adding the vegetables, always try to figure out which ones take the longest to cook and add them in first. If you have something that you don’t wish to puree, maybe it works as a topping? If you are a meat-eater, just crisp up all the odd ends of your sausages and bacon. If you eat cheese, maybe just sprinkle it on top or melt it in. The options are endless and these types of recipes always work out. And in addition to a good meal, you also get some peace of mind because you avoid food waste. Win-win!
Vegetable Medley Soup
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
½ leek
2 stalks of celery
1 small broccoli
A quarter of small cabbage
3 ½ oz (vegan) cream cheese
The juice from ½ lemon
A handful of green beans
3 ½ oz fresh chanterelle mushrooms
1 spring onion
Salt, pepper, oil
Instructions:
Chop up the leek and celery, and place on the stove on medium heat with a drop of oil and a little salt.
At the same time put on the kettle with the water.
Cut the broccoli to florets (the stem and everything) and make ribbons out of the cabbage.
Pour about 2 cups of water over the leeks and throw in the green beans for 4 minutes. Then fish them out with a slotted spoon and throw in broccoli and cabbage. Put on the lid, and let the veggies cook for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
In the meantime, fry the mushrooms in a frying pan in a drop of oil. Season with salt and pepper. I also fried the beans in the same pan to get them a little crispier.
Once the vegetables are tender, add cream cheese and lemon juice, and whizz the soup up to a smooth consistency. If you like your soup more liquid, feel free to add more boiling water. Season with a little extra salt and a ton of pepper.
Top with green beans, fried chanterelles, and spring onion.
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She loves to spend time in the kitchen, but most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. She thinks that everybody can find time to cook healthy food at home, it is just a question of planning. "I work in an office full time, teach yoga 7-8 hours a week and write a blog. So if I manage to cook most of my meals, then so do you!" Connect with Kadri and enjoy many more of her delicious healthy recipes on her website here: www.kahvliga.ee.