Bug Beater Soup!

Ingredients

• 40 g split red lentils – optional, see 1st tip
• 2-3 garlic cloves, no need to peel
• 100 g onions, peeled, cut in pieces
• 40 g fresh ginger root, no need to peel, sliced in thin 2 mm ‘coins’ along lines on skin
• ½ cayenne or Thai chilli, green or red, fresh or frozen or dried
• 10 g fresh turmeric root, no need to peel, sliced in thin 2 mm ‘coins’ along lines on skin, or 1 tsp ground dried turmeric
• 30 g chicken fat (see 2nd tip), unsalted butter, ghee or coconut oil
• 350 g your favourite vegetable/s, cut in 3-4 cm pieces – see 3rd tip
• 500-700 g homemade chicken stock or water – see 4th tip
• 2 heaped tsp homemade TM vegetable stock paste or 1½ level tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Grind red lentils if using 20 sec/speed 8.
2. Add garlic, onions, ginger, chilli (see 5th tip), turmeric, chicken fat and vegetables, then chop 5 sec/speed 7.
3. Add 500 g stock, add TM stock paste, then cook 20 min/100°C/speed 2.
4. Add pepper, then blend 1½ min/speed 5-10, gradually increasing to speed 10 over first 10 seconds, then serve and enjoy a big bowlful. If you prefer a thinner result, see 4th tip.

Janie’s Tips

1. Including lentils will produce a thick soup.
2. When homemade chicken stock is chilled, chicken fat (schmaltz) will solidify on top – this can be used in soups as here, or use it instead of oil to make the most wonderful roast potatoes.
3. Vegetable suggestions: one of, or a mixture of, fresh mushrooms, carrots, marrow, cucumber, sweet potato, pumpkin or other squashes, broccoli, peas, celeriac, leeks, sweetcorn (corn), or anything else you fancy; cut all vegetables and salad leaves into 3-4 cm pieces before adding in step 2.
4. All or some of remaining chicken stock can be added for a thinner soup if desired; add after blending in step 4 then heat 5 min/90°C/speed 2.
5. This soup is meant to be spicy if you are trying to beat some bugs! However, if you are serving it to children or prefer moderate spice for a mystery soup, seeds can be removed from the chilli.
6. Store leftover soup in portion sizes in fridge up to 4 days and in freezer up to 6 months.
7. This recipe is gluten free (GF) – read ingredient labels to ensure all your ingredients are gluten free if gluten free is required.
8. This recipe is dairy free (DF) – read ingredient labels to ensure all your ingredients (including homemade TM stock paste if using) are dairy free if dairy free is required.
9. To make this recipe vegetarian: use water instead of chicken stock, and use butter, ghee or coconut oil instead of chicken fat.
10. To make this recipe vegan: use water instead of chicken stock, and use coconut oil instead of chicken fat, butter or ghee.