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A warming homemade soup ready in under an hour. [Photo: Vegetarian Society]

Winter roots and beans soup

This homemade soup is packed with nutrients, offering three servings of vegetables, plenty of fibre, and more than a third of your daily intake for most vitamins and minerals per bowl.

You can prepare it in under an hour and it serves 4.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 medium swede, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 4 sprigs thyme, stalks removed
• 850ml (30 0z) low sodium vegetable stock
• 550ml (19 0z) semi-skimmed milk
• 2 x 400g (14 oz) cans mixed beans
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 medium wholemeal or granary
• French baguette

Method

1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan then add the garlic and onion, frying over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft but not coloured.

2 Add the prepared swede, carrot, parsnip and sprigs of thyme, then stir to combine.

3 Add the stock and milk, bring to the boil then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

4 While the vegetables are cooking, drain the canned mixed beans into a colander and rinse.

5 When the vegetables are tender, remove from the heat and put one-third into a food processor or blender, then blend until smooth.

6 Return the blended mixture to the pan, add the beans, stir and warm through over a low heat.

7 Season the soup with black pepper to taste.

8 Serve the soup in bowls with half of the French baguette per person.

Recipe © The Vegetarian Society