Vegetable and corn soup

With the winters finally arriving in town, we are going to have to up our cooking game because with the cold comes the hunger! It is also a very good time to eat healthy to boost your immunity; given the holidays dawning up you are bound to eat those little extra calories, so here is a recipe that's low on the calories and up on the health scale, my vegetable and corn soup recipe because nothing beats the wintry chills like a pipping hot bowl of soup!

Ingredients:

Corn kernels (1 cup)
Onion (1 medium sized) (roughly chopped)
Ginger (1 inch piece)
Mixed Vegetable (1 bowl of finely chopped vegetables)
(Carrot, capsicum, cabbage, spring onion, corn kernels)
Coriander (1 tbsp) (finely chopped)
Milk (1 cup)
Black pepper Powder (1 tsp)
Soya sauce (2 tsp)
Green chilli (1-2) (finely chopped)
Water (2 cups)
Olive oil (1 tbsp)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a deep bottomed pan heat 1 tsp of oil and saute the onion.
2. Add the ginger and 1 cup corn kernels to the onions and cook for a minute on medium flame.
3. Add the milk and water to this and cook the 10 mins or till the corn kernels are nicely cooked.
4. Let this cool and run it in a food processor to get a smooth soup. Make sure to not have any chunks of ginger left behind. Grind nicely and set aside. 
5. Now heat the remaining oil in the pan and saute all the vegetables for 2-3 mins while stirring well. Add the soup to the vegetables.
6. Now add the black pepper powder (freshly ground pepper is recommended), soya sauce, coriander, green chilli and salt.
7. Cook for 5 mins on low flame and serve hot. Add some fried noodles before serving for that added crunchiness (don't add if you are watching the 'calories'). Enjoy :)

Carrot-Beet-Tomato Soup

Personally, I am not a big fan of eating beetroot raw, so I have to keep finding ways to make it delicious, because we can settle for nothing less! So I figured out one of the best ways to eat this extremely healthy root, and that is to turn it into a soup. My amazingly smart mother is always telling me to somehow, anyhow eat beet which I keep trying to avoid but after this recipe I will be happy to be eating it as much as she asks me to:) Moreover it's a very easy recipe so it's a great thing to add to the regulars on your menu. The combination of health without much hard work is my type of thing, wondering if I should have named my blog the lazy fooding;)

Ingredients:

Carrot (1 small) (shredded)

Beetroot (1 1/2) (pealed and roughly chopped)

Ripe Tomato (1 big) (roughly chopped)

Red Onion (1 small) (roughly chopped)

Coriander (1 tsp)

Mint leaves (1 tsp)

Ginger-Garlic paste (1 tsp)

Garam masala (1/4 tsp)

Red chilli powder (1/2 tsp)

Chaat masala (1/4 tsp)

Dry oregano (optional)

Olive oil (1 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, add the onion and saute for a minute.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and and give it a nice stir and add the rest of the ingredients except the oregano.
3. Mix everything and add one and half glass of water and mix again.
4. Cover the lid and pressure cook on medium flame. Take 3-4 whistles and turn off the gas.
5. Once done, let the soup cool for a bit and process in a food processor.
6. Reheat the soup before serving. You may add some boiled macaroni to the soup when reheating to make the soup more filling. Sprinkle dried oregano before serving. Enjoy:)

Tomato soup

Here's the classic tomato soup recipe. Need i say more??

Ingredients:

Ripe Tomatoes (1/2 kg)

Salted butter (4 tbsp)

Onions (1 big or 2 small) (roughly chopped)

Coriander (2 tbsp) (roughly chopped)

Mint leaves (Pudina) (2 tbsp) (roughly chopped)

Garlic (5 cloves) (roughly chopped)

Black pepper powder (1/2 tbsp) (freshly ground)

Red chilli powder (1/2 tbsp)

Sugar (1 tsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Make 4 superficial slits on each tomato. This will help with the peeling of the tomatoes later.
2. Boil enough water to nicely immerse all the tomatoes in a deep bottomed pan. Add the tomatoes and blanch them till the peel starts coming off.
3. Put the tomatoes in ice cold water and remove the peels, because of the blanching the peels will come off easily.
4. Roughly chop the tomatoes.
5. Heat a pressure cooker on low flame. Heat 2 tbsp of butter in it, and add the onions and garlic to it immediately.
6. Cook for two minutes till the onions become translucent.
7. Add two medium sized glasses of water to this.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes, coriander, mint leaves, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, sugar and salt.
9. Cover with the lid and pressure cook on medium flame till you get 3 whistles from the cooker.
10. Once done, let the soup cool for a bit and process in a food processor.
11. Reheat the soup before serving. Serve it topped with fresh cream, butter and bread croutons.
12. You may add celery or finely chopped carrots at between steps 6 and 7, to make the soup healthier and to bring a little variety in the flavor. Enjoy:)