Mixed Greens and Beetroot Soup

Welcome to another Waste-Not-Wednesday!

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I know, it seems I've been slacking with the posts of late, it is for a good cause honest! you will have to wait to see, what it is that has been keeping me away...But if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram I promise you won't be missing out, as I update these daily.

Anyway back to the post at hand, so I had some rather unhappy looking salad leaves left over from the weekend. Let's face it, they were a little passed their best for a raw salad, well a least to me! but you all know me and my frugal ways 'waste nothing' I turned them into a lovely delicious green soup packed full of  immune boosting nutrients, and who doesn't need some of those at this time of year. My salad greens had some beetroot in, which gave it a deeper shade of green (is there a book title in that?), and a slight earthy sweetness. You can add in extra beetroot if your leftover greens don't have any beets!...

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#Top Top: One last point before we start #pick out and discard any leaves that are looking slimy!

So here goes...

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The Low Down:

Leafy green vegetables are excellent for boosting your immunity. Why? because they contain high vitamin C and beta-carotene. Which are proven immune boosting nutrients, helping the body fight infections. Nutritional yeast flakes, are a great source of B vitamins, especially B12 which many vegans tend to be low or deficient in; adequate amounts will prevent B12 anaemia (pernicious anaemia). The ingredients within this soup are heat liable, which means the vitamins are sensitive to heat, this is why we add them after the main cooking has been done and simply heat through.

Manganese, Phosphorous, Magnesium, Vitamin A, Sodium, Folate, Selenium, Iron

B5, B12, Zinc, Calcium

Let's cook...

Mixed Greens and Beetroot Soup

Ingredients

serves 2-4

All rights to images reserved  copyrights Alicia Lewis @ KitchenTakeovers

• 1-2 handful of leftover greens
•  *(spinach, rocket and other green leafy stuff you got hanging around in the fridge or garden).
• *1 teaspoon sumac spice or nutmeg (optional)
• * 1 small beetroot - washed and cut in chunks
• 2 medium potatoes-washed and cut in cubes
• 1 medium onion - peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves - peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes - or *grated hard-cheese
• 2 tablespoon cashew nuts - or *low fat cream if you like
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 litre of water
• black pepper and salt to taste

Preparation

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Put a large pan on medium heat and allow to get hot, add the oil, onion and garlic stirring to prevent burning.

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When the onions start turning translucent add the potato cubes, water and stock cube, cover and bring to the boil lowering the heat to a gentle simmer till potatoes are a bit soft but not cooked fully.

All rights to images reserved  copyrights Alicia Lewis @ KitchenTakeovers

In the mean time, put the cashew nuts in a blender, blend till you are left with a fine powder, leave aside (in the blender) till later.

All rights to images reserved  copyrights Alicia Lewis @ KitchenTakeovers

Once the potatoes are soft, using a ladle or large spoon carefully scoop the potato and broth into the blender with the cashew powder.

All rights to images reserved  copyrights Alicia Lewis @ KitchenTakeovers

Add the washed salad greens and beetroot pieces,cover and blend till smooth.

All rights to images reserved  copyrights Alicia Lewis @ KitchenTakeovers

Transfer the mixture back into the sauce pan used previously, and return to the fire on a low heat. Add the yeast flakes, black pepper and salt to taste, stir well and gently heat through, DO NOT BOIL as this will destroy a lot of the heat sensitive vitamins from the yeast flakes and the salad greens.

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Remember we want to keep as much of those immune boosting nutrients as possible!

Done!

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Serve with bread as a main or in smaller portion as starter...

I served mine with some homemade seeded loaf and leftover breadfruit, some soy sauce and nori (seaweed) sheets.

Bon Appétit!!

All rights to images reserved  copyrights Alicia Lewis @ KitchenTakeovers