Beetroot and orange soup with mustard seeds

Whether you choose to serve your soup in soup bowls, or a mug like these ones pictured above, this bright earthy soup (from Sainsbury's magazine) comes with a touch of orange sunshine! It can also make a great starter if you should be entertaining ...

Ingredients:
Serves 8
1 bunch of raw beetroot (about 700g), trimmed, bigger ones halved
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
50 g butter
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
600 ml vegetable stock
finely grated zest of ½ orange
1 tbsp mustard seeds

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Put the beetroot in a roasting tin, drizzle with the oil and roast for 1 hour or until tender.
2. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Wearing rubber gloves, rub the beetroot to remove the skin, then discard it. Roughly chop the beetroot and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a pan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until soft and beginning to colour. Add the vinegar; simmer for 3 minutes. Add the stock and beetroot and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, toast the zest and mustard seeds in a dry frying pan for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
5. Remove the soup from the heat and season. Blitz in a blender until smooth. Ladle the soup into mini mugs or bowls and top with the zest and mustard seeds. Drizzle with a little olive oil.

Tip - get ahead:

Make the soup up to 2 days ahead; chill. It can also be frozen.

Nutritional Details:
Each serving provides
4.4g carbohydrate 1.5g fibre 1.1g protein 8.4g Fat

Recipe idea from here

More about beetroot ... a favourite in 1970's British salads (served cooked and pickled in vinegar), beetroot is a root vegetable with dark, purple skin and pink/purple flesh. It has also enjoyed something of a deserved comeback in recent years, its earthy, rich and sweet flavour and vibrant colour lends itself to a variety of both sweet and savoury dishes.

Beetroot is a close relative of spinach and chard and has an earthy flavour and a good nutritional content - it's also reckoned to be a good detoxifier.

Choose the best:
Raw beetroot should have their stalks (fresh, not wilting) and roots (nice and firm) intact.

Prepare it:
To cook whole, wash but don't peel, then cut the stalks to 2.5cm and leave the root at the bottom; if either are trimmed too much, the beetroot's colour will bleed. Then, bake in a low oven, either wrapped in foil or in a little water in a lidded casserole dish. It should be ready in 2-3 hours. For boiling, prepare it in the same way, then simmer for around an hour.

Store it:
Fresh, they'll keep for several weeks in a cool, dark place.

Cook it:
Roast, chop and dress with walnut oil and chives. Bake in olive oil and cumin seeds, then dot with feta and bake again. Boil the beetroots for a few minutes, drain and serve with olive oil or butter. Juice raw beetroot, and mix half and half with carrot juice for a vitamin-rich drink.

Above picture and beetroot information taken from here

We bring a variety of articles and recipe ideas to this blog, and not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan