Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

There is something incredibly comforting about a homemade tomato soup, and this version, with roasted tomatoes, really is a winner. Gorgeous in the summer with fresh, ripe tomatoes - in my case from my Dad's allotment, it's such a treat and so easy to make - it beats any shop-bought versions hands down.

Roasting the tomatoes, intensifies the flavour and gives that lovely, slightly charred, smoky element that makes for a delicious tasting bowl.

This is great for a family meal, with some hunks of fresh, crusty, buttered bread, or a simple light lunch alone too.

If you are watching your calorie or fat intake, simply omit from adding the crème fraiche or the Parmigiana shavings.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup



Here's how:

• 600g fresh tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Pinch salt
• Pinch garlic salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch sugar
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp. crème fraiche
• Handful basil leaves and stalks
• Handful Parmigiana shavings to scatter over the soup

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180-200. Place the tomatoes into a baking dish. I used a mixture here and halved the larger ones, putting them skin side down. Drizzle over 2 tbsp. of olive oil - use a good quality if you have it, it will make a difference. Now scatter over the tomatoes the garlic salt, oregano, sugar and black pepper and place into the oven for about an hour, or until juice has been exuded from the tomatoes and they are slightly charred - but not blackened.

Tomatoes pre-roasting



Roasted tomatoes



In the meantime prepare the 'base' of the soup, by firstly peeling and dicing the onion and mincing the garlic. Peeling and chopping up the carrot into small pieces and slicing the celery. All of this can be added to a heavy-bottomed pan with a tablespoon more of olive oil and placed onto a low heat until all has been softened, about five minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside until the tomatoes are roasted.


Place the tomatoes, and any escaping juice in the dish into the saucepan now, and make up the vegetable stock, then pour over. Place the basil stalks into the soup and season liberally with black pepper and sea salt. Now place back on the heat and cook for 30 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool

Blitz to a smooth texture and return to the heat. Just before serving add the crème fraiche and most of the basil leaves and stir through, and once dished up into soup bowls, add the shavings of cheese and a few extra basil leaves for garnish. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may enjoy:


Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil Bacon and Kale Soup
Winter Vegetable Soup
Quick Pork Noodle Soup
Skinny Broccoli and Fennel Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup without Cream

Winter Vegetable Soup

Here's a lovely meat-free soup recipe perfect for a speedy mid-week supper or lunch in the cold winter weather.

The beauty of this soup, is you can add whatever vegetables you have lurking in the fridge, odds and ends welcome.

This particular version makes enough for two hearty portions of around 370 calories per portion so perfect if like me you are on a healthy eating regime or fat fighting. 

Winter Vegetable Soup

Here's how: 

• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 red chilli (optional) 
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 carrots
• 3 parsnips
• 2 leeks
• 50g peas (I used Birdseye Frozen Peas) 
• 1 Knorr Vegetable Stock Pot made up with 1 pint water (or other vegetable or chicken stock)
• Black pepper
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Firstly add the coconut oil to a thick bottomed pan and switch onto a low heat.

Now peel and finely dice the onion and garlic and add to the pan. Slice the chilli if you are using and add to the pan.

Allow to soften whilst you prepare the vegetables: peel and dice the carrots and parsnips and slice the leeks.

After a few minutes add the leeks to the pan and allow to gently fry for two minutes before adding the carrot, parsnip and peas. Now top up with the stock, add the bay leaf and a generous pinch of black pepper.

Pop the lid on and cook on a gentle heat for thirty minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for fifteen minutes. Now blitz with a hand blender or pop into a blender.

Return to the pan and re-heat till piping hot. Serve with crusty bread if your calorie count allows. Enjoy!

Spiralised Mackerel Salad

During my fat fighting and healthy eating regime I have been strictly adhering to 1200 calories a day and this particular salad is a delicious, refreshing 350 calorie meal, ideal for lunch.

I used my spiraliser and vegetable peeler to make for an interesting and crunchy texture of radish, yellow pepper, carrot and cucumber with some blanched kale and topped with pomegranate seeds for some added crunch. Using lemon juice as a natural dressing too just really peps this up.

Mackerel is a fantastic oily fish full of fabulous nutrients and can be bought so inexpensively too - what's more it's delicious.

Spiralised Mackerel Salad

Here’s how:

50g kale
1/2 pomegranate
1 carrot
4cm length of cucumber
4 radishes
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 lemon
1 peppered smoked mackerel fillet
Firstly blanch the kale in some boiled water and drain. Use some kitchen towel to take out any excess moisture and add to a plate or bowl.

Now peel the carrot and spiralise, or use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons (grating also works). Add to the plate. Do the same with the cucumber and radishes and use the peeler to make thin slithers of yellow pepper.

Remove the seeds of the pomegranate and drain out the juice (add to some water for a lovely, refreshing beverage) and scatter over the plate.

Add the mackerel fillet and squeeze the lemon over. Enjoy!

Baby Bites: Trout with Vegetable Crush

I wouldn't have thought of trying baby with trout during the weaning process to be honest, but I actually picked up a pack of two boneless fillets by mistake, thinking they were salmon fillets and thought it would be worth a try. Lo and behold, Bridget wolfed this down so I thought I would share.

The below makes enough for 8 portions or more if you have a baby with a smaller appetite and freezes well. Pop out on the morning you need it and it'll defrost in time for lunch or dinner.

Trout obviously had a slightly strong flavour for little palates so this is one to introduce when weaning is well established - maybe two or three months in, and as you should at this stage be giving a more textured version of dinners to get little one used to lumps and chewing more, I've opted fona vegetable 'crush' rather than a smooth mash or puree.

220g deboned, skinless trout fillets
1 small swede
1 large carrot
1/2 head of broccoli

Firstly place the oven on a moderate heat - around 180-200 degrees.

Peel the carrot and swede and chop into equal sized pieces, place into a saucepan and cover with water and place on a medium heat. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are able to be mashed/ crushed.

Place the trout fillets in an oven proof dish and drizzle over a tiny bit of olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Chop the broccoli into small bits and five minutes before removing the swede and carrots from the heat add the broccoli to the pot.

Remove the trout from the oven and gently flake into a bowl.

Then drain the vegetables and mash with a potato masher, not going mad as you want a textured finish. I add a teaspoon of olive oil here too otherwise it can be a little dry.

Add to the trout and  mix to completely combine. Portion up and if you're serving immediately then allow to cool a little to the temperature your little one can tolerate.

5:2 Honey, Ginger and Chilli Prawn Stir Fry

I've been doing the 5:2 diet on and off since January with some success on the weight loss front.

I've found that on fast days of only 500 calories, it's important to make friends with the best flavour-giving ingredients, such as citrus fruits, garlic, ginger, chilli, spices and fresh herbs, spices, oils and vinegars. They help to keep food tasting interesting and vibrant and avoid you getting bored of 'rabbit food'. 

This stir fry of prawns is absolutely delicious even when I've stripped off some of the quantities I would usually use to lower the calorie count. 

The frying of garlic, ginger and chilli in a tiny bit of sesame oil in a wok before adding the rest, gives the oil an amazing base flavour with a fiery heat running through and then the addition of honey towards the end gives a natural sweetness. The final flourishes of lime juice and some scattered coriander leaves just gives it a wonderful freshness and there's no way you could find this boring - fast day or otherwise. 

The below makes a dinner for two and each portion contains 297 calories which I've calculated using MyFitnessPal. (On the 5:2 diet, on two non-consecutive days per week your calorie intake cannot exceed 500).

• 140g raw prawns
• 1 red chilli
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 small yellow pepper
• 100g beansprouts
• 50g carrot
• 50g lettuce leaves
• 50g mushrooms
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 lime
• 2 tsp runny honey
• Few coriander leaves

Firstly crush the garlic and finely slice the ginger and chilli. 

Add the sesame oil to a wok and place on a low heat, adding the garlic, ginger and chilli to slowly soften and give the oil plenty of flavour whilst you get everything else chopped.

Slice the peppers. Peel and slice or grate the carrot and add these to the wok.

Slice the mushrooms and lettuce leaves and leave to one side. 

Roll the lime around a bit pressing down with the palm of your hand to release as much juice as possible and cut in half ready for squeezing over at the end.

Once the peppers and carrot have softened a bit add the mushrooms and prawns. Prawns literally take a few minutes to cook and please don't overdo it or you'll be left with horrible rubbery things as they are useless once overdone. They are easy to gauge anyway as they turn pink on each side once cooked through. 

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to turn the prawns over once cooked and keep everything moving in the wok. 

Once almost cooked add the honey and mix through, then add the beansprouts and lettuce and cook for a further minute and then remove the wok from the heat.

Squeeze over the lime juice and scatter over some coriander leaves and you're ready to dish up.
If you're making this just for yourself, simply half the quantities and if for two, and your dining companion isn't on the 5:2, serve with some rice or noodles.

Greek Briam - Glorious Summer Vegetable Stew

Briam is a wonderful Greek vegetable stew that can be adapted according to what's in season - or in the larder. It's a great vegetarian main course that takes very little preparation but tastes fabulous and is economical too.

I've experimented with recipes from several online sources as well as one from The Food and Cooking of Greece - a wonderful book which gives lots of information about ingredients used in Greek cookery and the history and origin of many dishes. With a little trial and error, the below recipe is the one I believe most resembles the delectable dish I associate with my beloved Corfu and glorious hot summer nights. 

This will serve four people with rice and some fresh, crusty bread. 

Here's how:

200g peeled potatoes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Handful fresh cherry tomatoes
1 courgette
1 onion
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
1tbsp dried oregano
1tsp sea salt
Pinch of peppercorns
1/2 glass of red wine 
Couple strands of celery
1/2 pint of vegetable stock

Firstly peel the potatoes and chop into small cubes, rinse then parboil. 

In the meantime slice the onions and garlic and add to a deep casserole dish. Halve the courgette and then halve again and chop into equal discs about the thickness of a pound coin and throw into the dish.

Cut the pepper into similar sized chunks as the courgette and cut the tomatoes in half and add both. 

Peel the carrot and chop into fine oblongs. Chop the celery and add both to the casserole dish.

Add the tin of tomatoes, the drained potatoes (drain when you can pierce the flesh with a fork easily) and the red wine.

Add the bay leaf, seasoning and oregano and pour over the vegetable stock and 2 tbsp olive oil and give a good stir. Place the lid on and pop into the oven for 2.5 hours at around 150-160 degrees. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking and stir every 40 minutes or so.