Weekend Carnivore

The days on the run up to my wedding in July 2008 were fairly chaotic. There wasn’t all that much to worry about in regards to actual wedding but there was just so much rushing around on top of having to work right up until the last moment. I was starting to feel a bit dizzy with it all. So, when a friend from Recipezaar was visiting London and invited me to lunch I decided I deserved the momentary break from the whirlwind.

We ended up at an upscale Indian restaurant called Zaika. Though, calling something upscale in the Kensington area might be a tad redundant. I am not usually much of a posh restaurant goer – I am more of a homecooking type of gal – but it was for their lunch menu and it wasn’t too snobby so I felt just fine. I am pretty sure it is the only Michelin star restaurant I have eaten at so it was great to not feel intimidated.  We both had a taster menu which turned out the be really yummy. I especially liked that everything was very well spiced without being all that hot. Just right for my taste buds.

By far the stand out dish for me, was a spiced mushroom soup we had as a starter. It really was amazingly good. I am generally nuts about mushrooms anyway but this was just extra great. We played the ‘guess what is in it’ game and I made notes because I knew I had to try to reproduce it when I got home.

Of course, I was never going to come close to their level of cooking but what I came up with in my own kitchen wasn’t all that far away and I have been making it ever since. What made me especially pleased was that I managed to put my own stamp on the recipe and made it really low fat and even though it tastes really creamy, there is no dairy in it at all. In fact, this is a vegan soup recipe but you wouldn’t ever taste it and think it stood out as being vegan. Over the past few years, I have learned that I can make a nice creamy soup simply by using potatoes with their skins on in the cooking. When the whole thing gets blitzed up it all goes very smooth without needing the extra fat to do it. That can’t be a bad thing.

Now, this low fat mushroom soup recipe comes out whenever I am short on spare calories but need something with volume to fill my hungry belly.

Creamy spiced mushroom soup

low fat mushroom soup recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
7 1/2 ounces onions, chopped
4 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
13 1/2 ounces potatoes, chopped with skins still on
4 ounces carrots, chopped
7 ounces mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 pints vegetable stock
3/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in big pan and then add the onion and cook softly for about 5 minutes to allow the onions to soften.
2. Add the garam masala and ground coriander and stir into the onions.
3. Add the potato and carrots and just allow to heat through for 1 minute.
4. Add the mushrooms and the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
5. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
6. Add the fresh coriander and either transfer to a blender and blitz under smooth or use a hand held stick blender to whizz it up right there in the pan.
7. Return to the heat and add any salt if you think it is needed and just heat through again to serve.

Serves: 4