Budget-Friendly & Yummy Cauliflower & Pesto soup

Feeding a family of 2 boys, 1 baby and 2 hungry parents on a budget can be tricky.  
Boys eat a lot. 
A LOT. 
(And so do their parents but that's another matter).

For a few months now I've been trying to feed us the healthiest food for the least amount of money.  With soup, this is easily achieved.  

This cauliflower soup is flavoured with Pesto and delicious.  Even fussy boys like it!

Cauliflower & Pesto soup

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, washed and chopped

some butter

some flour

Pesto (2-3 tablespoons)

About 1 litre of vegetable stock

Soy cream (150-200ml)

Salt & pepper

Method:

First of all, make a base to bind the soup.

Melt the butter.

As soon as it has melted, stir in the flour until a paste forms.

Stir in some soy cream (about 150-200ml) and heat.

Add the hot vegetable stock.

Tip in the cauliflower florets.

Cook until the cauliflower is cooked (about 10-15 minutes).

Using a hand blender, blend the soup to a fairly smooth consistency.
It should be rather thick.

Stir in the pesto:  about 2-3 tablespoons will flavour it well.

Season to taste.

Delicious with garlic bread. 

This meal is as cheap as chips!

Lately I have been buying veggies in bulk.  This week our table is graced with a huge bunch of fat leeks, dying to be turned into SOMETHING nice.  

I have a neverending love affair with soup, so soup it will be for our dinner.  Hopefully I can hide the 'veggie' part of the soup so Son#2 won't pull up his nose.  Three and three-quarter year olds...  I ask you.

Potato & LEEK SOUP!

Ingredients:

About 500g of peeled potatoes, chopped

A small onion, roughly chopped

About 500g sliced leeks, mainly the white part

800ml of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard

small carton of (soy) cream (around 200ml)

butter
2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

fried bits of bacon (optional for the non-vegetarians!)

1 baguette

grated cheese

Method:

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter and then add the leeks, onion and potatoes.

Fry for a few minutes until all the veggies have been covered with butter.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.

Add the bay leaves, salt & pepper.

Cover partially and let it simmer for 15 minutes. 
Fish out the bay leaves. 
Stir in the mustard.

Using a hand-blender, blend in batches to a chunky consistency.

Add the cream.

You could add some stock/water if the soup is too thick.

In the meantime, slice the baguette thinly.

Preheat the grill.

Cover the slices of baguette with grated cheese and place under the grill until the cheese has melted and starts to brown.

Serve together with soup while hot!

Bon appetit! 

Mmmmmm! Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

You might have guessed it:  I'm a vegetarian.  Have been for many many many years.  I didn't choose this nutritional path because I was morally offended by the meat industry - I actually went on a protein diet where I ate 3 steaks per day, trying to weigh 50kg (still haven't managed to do that...) and got so sick from all that meat that I swore I would never eat it again.  And I never did.  

Nowadays, I eat some fish every now and then, but mostly vegetarian food.  I also used to be  one of the few vegetarians out there who didn't like vegetables, but even that has slowly but surely changed over the years.  With good friends like my friend Elma (from elmaskitchen.blogspot.com) who can cook up a storm, I'm not short of inspiration.


Here's a delicious Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe that I (sort-of) made up on my own:

VEGETARIAN SHEPHERD’S PIE

Ingredients:

1 can of chopped tomatoes (roughly 300g)

1 can of baked beans in tomato sauce (roughly 300g)

1 can of (ready-cooked) lentils (also roughly 300g)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

some Italian herbs (half a teaspoon)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 large onion, chopped

around 750g of potatoes, peeled and cut into blocks

around 250g parsnips/carrots/sweet potatoes/pumpkin, peeled and cubed

olive oil

Grated cheese (optional)

Salt & pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven at 200C.

Start by boiling the potatoes and parsnips/carrots/sweet potatoes/pumpkin in some salted water, until tender.

In the meantime:

Fry the onion in some olive oil, and when it becomes a bit translucent, add the garlic.  Fry this for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the Italian herbs, the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, the lentils and the baked beans.

Let everything simmer for roughly 10-12 minutes.  It should reduce a bit.

Season to taste.

Drain the potato-veggies, and mash it with a bit of butter & (soy)milk

Pour the lentil, tomato & baked beans-mixture into an oven dish. 

Spread the mashed potatoes/veg mix on top and rake with a fork.
Dot with some butter to brown in the oven.

You could grate some cheese on top – this makes for a nice ‘crispy’ layer on top.

Season with black pepper.

Pop it in the oven for roughly 20 minutes. 

We usually eat our shepherd’s pie with peas or broccoli, any dark green veggie.

It should be enough to feed 2 adults and 2 kids for 2 days.  Of course you could add more lentils & baked beans if you enjoy larger portions.