Corn Fussili n Basil Soup

Soups are the most comforting food for winter and I have been making a lot of them this winter. Here is one, I tried recently. I had found this one in a microwave booklet with recipes from Tarla Dalal at my mom's place. I vaguely remembered the combination and created this one. It is quite filling and I loved the flavour of basil in the soup.

Sending it to Divya's Show me you Soup and to my event 'Winter Warmers'

Corn Fussili n Basil Soup

Ingredients:

2 large tomatoes.
1 cup sweet corn + 2 tbsp extra.
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tsp oil
3/4 cup fussili pasta, boiled
4-5 basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste.
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tsp of water.
Grated cheddar cheese for garnishing.

Process:

1. Boil the tomatoes and make a puree of it. Boil 1 cup sweetcorn in 1 cup water and churn it in a mixture. Strain it and discard the waste.

2. Heat a pan and add oil. When heated add the onions and saute till translucent.

3. Add the tomato puree and heat for 30 seconds. Then add the sweetcorn mixture and stir well.

4. To it add the cornflour mixture and stir well. The soup will thicken. Add water to adjust the consistency.

5. Add the remaining sweetcorn, basil leaves, boiled pasta,sugar, salt and pepper. Give it a nice stir and boil on a medium for 5-7 minutes.

6. Garnish it with grated cheddar and serve hot.

This is my 4th entry to my event -Winter Warmers. Others were C3 Soup, Carrot Halva(Microwave) and Chocolate Cake with Fudge Icing. Along with these I would like to submit these four recipes for my event-

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup, Tomato Soup, Tom Veg Soup and Ginger and Cardamom Tea.

Hurry in your entries. Event ends 30th Jan 2011.

Enjoy!

An Event Announcement and C3 Soup

Winter is in full bloom here and with that there are a few dishes that are making way to our table more than at any other time of the year. 'Soups' for examples comes to my mind first. But there are lot many things that we cook mostly in winter that keeps us warm and going. So here I am with my first event here -'Winter Warmers', very apt for the season, I believe. I look forward to your contribution, be it a piping hot soup or a warm salad, a warm halva or a sizzling brownie. It can be even a hot cup of tea or coffee! The options are numerous and varied.. So, friends send in your delicious entries! Here are a few rules of the event, you would like to know:

1. Make something thats keeps you warms and going during cold wintery days.

2. It can be any course of the meal.

3. Recipe has to be strict vegetarian. No eggs allowed!

4. Multiple Entries are welcome. Old entries are allowed with new entries. That means if you are sending two new entries, you can send two of your old entries for the event.

5. Please send in your entries starting today, 15th Dec 2010 till on or before January 30th 2011. Roundup will be there by first week of February.

6. Bloggers can simply send your Name and URL of your recipe at theveggiehut@gmail.com (theveggiehut AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Winter Warmers" with the following details-

Name:
Recipe Name and Url:
Picture of the dish reduced to 300px:

Non bloggers can email me your name, recipe and picture at theveggiehut@gmail.com (theveggiehut AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Winter Warmers"

7. Link back to this announcement page is mandatory and I would really appreciate if you can include this logo in your posts.

Looking forward to your entries!

My very first entry to my very first event is this soup- C3 Soup. Well it is the actually, Carrot Coconut and Coriander Soup. It looks like a rather long name, so I call it C3 Soup. I had this soup here in a restraunt and needless to say I loved it. I am big on Tomato Soup but this one seemed to give a nice competition to my old all time favourite soup. I googled to find a suitable recipe and landed here. I have made some variation to it and here is my version.

Lets have alook at the ingredients:

4 large carrots.

1/4 cup chopped onions.

1/4 cup chopped coriander.

1/4 cup coconut milk( You may increase or decrease it by 2 tbsp)

2 cloves.

1 bay leaf.

Salt and pepper to taste.

2 tsp Sugar (Optional).

Process:

1. Wash and peel the carrots. Cut them into chunks. In a pressure cooker add the onions. cloves, bay   leaves and chopped carrots.

2. Add a cup of water. Pressure cook it on a medium till two whistles.

3. Let it cool down. Take out the cloves and bay leaf and discard. Churn it in a mixture till smooth and creamy with no lumps.

4. Heat a pan and add the mixture. Bring it to a boil and lower the gas.

5.  Add the chopped coriander leaves and coconut milk. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and stir. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot with your choice of bread.

I love this soup a bit sweet but my husband likes othewise so I donot add the sugar in his part. You can make your choice.

Send in your 'Winter Warmer' recipes for my event and enjoy your winter. Cheers!

Tom-Veg Soup

Finally, I am back from India. Actually, I was around 2 weeks back and now I am 'kind of settled' after my - 'sort of' long holiday break! Also, finally I am back to blogging :-)..Needless to say I had a lovely time back home with family and friends. As it happens after coming back from India, there is a straight 20 degree change in temperature. The mornings and evenings have already started to be really cold here and what I need at these times is a piping hot soup to keep me warm and going! So, yes I am here with a hearty and healthy soup. And obviously, it has my favourite ingredient-'Tomato' and hence the name- Tom-Veg Soup!

Tom-Veg Soup:

A piping hot and filling soup for cold days.

Ingredients:

For 2 people:

2 large tomatoes
¼ cup finely shredded cabbage.
¼ cup grated carrots.
¼ cup chopped spring onions.
2 tbsp green beans chopped.
1 small onion finely chopped.
1 small tomato chopped.
Handful of coriander leaves chopped.
1 bay leaf.
1 tbsp sugar or less.
Salt to taste.
Freshly ground pepper to taste.
1 tsp corn flour.
1 tbsp tomato ketchup.
1 tsp oil.

Process:

Cut the tomatoes into chunks and boil in 1½ cup water and microwave it for 3 minutes on a high. Blend them and strain. Heat oil in a pan and add the bay leaf. Sauté and add the onion. After a minute add the beans and sauté for another minute. Add shredded cabbage and carrot and heat for 2 minutes. Now add the tomato puree and heat for 3-4 minutes. Mix the corn flour in a little water and add to the boiling soup mixture. Give it a good stir. Add tomato ketchup, salt, sugar, pepper, chopped spring onion, chopped tomato and coriander leaves. Give it a boil and then lower the heat. Cover the pan and heat for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with your choice of bread but I had it by itself.

Happy Blogging! Enjoy!

Tomato Soup with Oven roasted Croutons

I don't know how many times I have professed my love for tomatoes on this blog and thats why when it comes to soups, my first choice is 'Tomato Soup'. I have already posted a few variation of tomato soup as, Tomato Noodles Soup, Tomato Baked Beans Soup and Tomato Black Eyed Beans Soup. But my favourite plain 'Tomato Soup' was long due to be posted. So, when I saw PJ's Healing Food -Tomatoes 

Event Announcement, I knew I am going to post this soon.

Tomatoes have immense benefits and it must be a very important part of a healthy diet. It is largely regarded as a fruit rather than a vegetable. If go for listing the benefits of tomatoes, the list will be a long one. So, very breifly, here are the benefits of tomatoes:-

• Tomatoes are rich in Lycopene,Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Fibre, Beta carotene, Potassium, Iron. Lycopene is the substance responsible for it's striking red colour.
• It lowers the risk of cancer.
• The lycopene in tomato prevents serum lipid oxidation, thus exerting protective effect against cardiovascular diseases. The regular consumption of tomato has proved to decrease the levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.
•  It also improves eye health by aiding in improving vision, preventing night-blindness and macular degeneration.
• It is also responsible for protecting joints, muscles and brain cells.
• Lycopene guards against aging of the skin.

Due to its versatile heath benefits and versatile preparation option there is no reason to neglect this fruit/veggie in one’s diet unless you are found allergic to this wonder fruit/veggie. My mom was once allergic to tomatoes for many years, but Thank God, it was over after a naturopathy treatment.

Now, coming back to the recipe:

Makes 1 large bowl.

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes, ripe.

1 small carrot (Optional).

3/4 -1 Cup Water.

Salt to taste.

Freshly ground pepper to taste.

1 tsp Sugar or to taste.

Butter to taste, Optional.

Process:

 Boil the tomatoes and carrot in a pressure cooker or as sauce pan. Let it cool down and churn it in the mixer till it is smooth. Seive this mixture through a strainer. Now, add this into a saucepan and heat it. Add the salt, sugar and pepper. Stir occasionaly and heat till you get the desired consistency.

For the Croutons,

2 slices of bread chopped into peices, I used wholegrain brown bread.

Process:

Arrange these bread peices in a baking tray and bake in an preheated oven at 200 C for 3-4 mins. Toss the once in between for even roasting.

Serve the tomato soup, hot with these croutons for a healthy meal.

Sending this off to PJ's event Healing Food- Tomatoes. This event is the brain child of Siri.

 

Enjoy!

Tomato Black Eyed Beans Soup

A bowl full of protien and nutrients!
Here is the recipe for 'Tomato Black Eyed Beans Soup' mentioned in my last post.
This recipe serves 2 people.

Tomato Noodles Soup and "Some Secrets"

January is finally over. So, I am looking forward to a better weather and some sunny days in the coming months. I loved winters in India as there was some respite from the heat and scorching sun. But, here I dread them as they are so cold and chilly. Cold, chilly and windy is a dreadful combination. So, with the end of January, I hope there will be some cheerful and bright days. Today, I am sharing a recipe of soup from my drafts. Its again a small variation to the normal tomato soup and it is quite filling - a one bowl meal! Before the recipe I have something else to share. Guess What? Some awards and some secrets!

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

When it comes to soup, I prefer a simple tomato soup with bread croutons. But, this winter when I had to prepare soup more often because of the bad weather, I tried a few more types of soup. One of them is "Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup". It is creamy with a good quantity of veggies. Its healthy and one full bowl is quite filling for the stomach. I loved it and hope to make it many more times.

Here is the recipe for it. We can do variation to this recipe by adding shredded cabbage,chopped cauliflower florets, string beans etc.

This recipe serves 2 people.
Ingredients:

1¼ cup frozen sweet corn.
2 cup + 2 tbsp water.
1 tbsp corn flour.
¼ cup chopped bell pepper.
1 tomato deseeded and chopped.
1 carrot chopped finely.
1 green chilli chopped finely.
½ tsp mustard seeds.
1 tbsp oil.
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves.
1 tsp salt.
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper powder.

Process:

1. Boil the sweet corn in 2 cups of water. Churn it finely in grinder. Sieve the mixture and keep aside. Mix the corn flour in 2 tbsp of water. Keep aside.

2. Heat a frying pan. Add oil when heated and add mustard seeds such that they crack right away. Add the chopped green chilies, chopped bell pepper and sauté.

3. Add the chopped carrot and sweet corn and heat till carrots are tender. Now add the chopped tomatoes and the sweet corn mixture.

4. Heat till it comes to boil. Add salt, pepper powder and sugar. Now add the coriander leaves and corn  flour mixture.

5.Then soup will start to thicken. Give it a good stir and heat for 5 minutes. Be careful so that the soup does not stick at the bottom of the pan. Take it off the gas.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Tomato Baked Beans Soup

When it comes to soup I always end up making a tomato soup. But this time a tried a recipe suggested by one of my friends. It is just a small variation of the tomato soup and I am glad to have tried it.

It is very easy and healthy. Here goes the recipe for "Tomato Baked Beans Soup".

This recipe serves 4 people.

Ingredients:


400 ml can of baked beans.
8 medium tomatoes.
2 cup water.
½ tsp black pepper powder.
1 tbsp sugar.
½ tsp salt (or to taste).
½ tsp mustard seeds.
1 tbsp butter.
½ cup finely chopped bell pepper.


Process:

Boil the tomatoes in water and make a puree of it. Heat a pan and add butter. When heated add mustard seeds such that they crack right away. Add bell peppers and sauté for a minute. Then add the tomato puree and stir nicely. Add pepper powder, sugar, salt and mix. Heat for 5-10 minutes. Now, add the baked beans. Heat for 2 minutes. The soup is ready. Turn off the gas and take the pan off the gas. Transfer in a soup bowl. Serve hot.

This one goes for Usha's event Healthy Inspirations Event Soups