Recipe: Spicy roast parsnip soup

Recipe - Spicy roast parsnip soup

Parsnip is such a wonderful root vegetable and we are always looking for new things to do with it. This soup recipe really brings out the sweet flavour of the parsnip and is super easy to make. You can leave the veggies to roast whilst you get on with other things, like playing with the kids or meditating!

Recipe: Spicy roast parsnip soup

Ingredients

Spicy marinade:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
1 tsp coriander seeds (or 1 tsp ground coriander)
½ tsp cumin seed, plus extra to garnish
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp mustard seeds (you can also use wholegrain mustard if you do not have seeds available)
Optional (for heat): ½ tsp cayenne pepper or spicy paprika

1 large onion, skin removed and cut into 8 chunks
2 garlic cloves, skin removed and cut into quarters
675g (6 large) parsnips, peeled, tops removed and diced
2 tomatoes, skin removed and quartered (you can leave the skin on if you are saving prep time, but your soup is much nicer if you can take the skin off)
1.2 litres (5 cups) water or homemade vegetable stock
1 tbsp lemon juice
Small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped (you can leave this out if you do not have any, maybe add an extra ½ tsp of ground coriander instead)

This recipe serves 4 people and has a total calories of 876 (244 per serving).

Method

Heat your oven to medium (180 degrees C, gas mark 4).

First make your marinade. In a jar, mix together the oil, water and spices, shaking well to combine the oil and water (you can also use a hand blender to do this).

Place the onion, garlic, parsnip and tomatoes in a bowl, then pour over the marinade. Make sure that the veggies are coated in the spices, by using a wooden spoon (or your hands!). Spread the veggies evenly in a heavy roasting pan, then place in the oven and leave to roast for 45 mins, or until tender. Shake once or twice during the cooking process. Sometimes the veggies sticking to the bottom of the pan brings an extra sweetness to this dish, as the onion and parsnips start to caramelize (yum!), but if it gets too dry you can add a little extra water before shaking the roasting pan.

Once the veggies are tender, put them into a large stock pan on the top of your stove and pour over the water (or homemade veggie stock). To make a thick soup, you want to barely cover the veggies with the water. Add the lemon juice and fresh coriander. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer gently for another 15 minutes.

You then need to blend the soup – either using a hand blender or spoon the mixture into a food processor and process until smooth. Taste – add more spices if needed and a little more lemon juice. Garnish with cumin seeds and serve.

Enjoy!

About the author

Lisa
Lisa
Lisa is one of the founders of La Crisalida Retreats. She is an Epidemiologist, therapeutic hatha and yin yoga teacher and also teaches mindfulness meditation. Lisa has studied NLP and hypnosis, as well as nutrition (she designs the menus).