Winter Warmer

The cold weather has arrived, which is a perfect time for soup!

I love making soup as it's the best way to use up any veg in the house and it's super healthy. For this Winter Warmer I fried off some onions then added chopped sweet potatoes, runner beans, a chopped courgette, two grated parsnips, chick peas, pearl barley and about a litre of veg stock. The secret ingredient that makes the soup spectacular is roasted tomatoes. We tend to make huge batches of roasted tomatoes, blend them up and then freeze them so they are ready for pasta sauces, soups etc.

Grated cheese and some bread on the side completed the dish :-)

The first of many Winter Warmers

Runner Beans!

 Well, it seems only right that my first blog about food should be regarding runner beans! Every year my husband and I grow runner beans in our garden - basically they are one of only a selection of veg that we are able to grow really well. And we have hundreds of the little beans every year. I don't find them the most versatile of vegetables, but I have found a great little recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called: Runner Beans with tomatoes. Here's the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/05/borlotti-runner-french-bean-recipes?INTCMP=SRCH

It's quite easy to make (which is always a plus point) and goes really well with cous cous.

 Fruits of the garden

The result! Food photography is something I've yet to master...