So it just so happens that Good Friday was promptly followed by Bad Saturday.
For those of you who don’t already know, I currently share my life with these guys:
Llamas. They are the most fantastic, individual, crazy creatures you’ll ever meet. Unfortunately, like most sentient beings, this doesn’t stop them from sometimes being utter dickheads. Today, they managed to break into the next door paddock and are now merrily chewing through the tree-leaves like there is no tomorrow and looking infuriatingly happy with themselves. The boyfriend is at work but managed to give me the oh-so-helpful advice of “Just Do Your Best”. What is that even supposed to mean?! It doesn’t help that llamas are pretty smart. You can’t just run at them, waving your arms and yelling – they just look at you as if to say “you look like a right prick, mate” and carry on.
So here it is, after many failed attempts of llama-baiting, llama-pleading and llama-blackmailing, my solution: Soup. There can only be one answer to a day like today and this is it. It’s easy, fast and tastes amazing, even if you are seasoning it with salty tears of disappointment and frustration.
RECIPE: (serves 2)
- 2tbsps olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 medium potato, diced
- 1 fresh chilli, finely chopped
- 300g sweetcorn, frozen
- 500ml hot vegetable stock
- 270ml light coconut milk
- 1tsp cumin
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 1tsp garam masala
- Juice 1/2 lemon
Heat the oil in a saucepan on a medium heat and add the onion, garlic, potato and chilli, stirring constantly for about 5 mins or until the onion has softened. Add the spices and carry on stirring for another minute until it is really fragrant.
Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil until the potatoes are soft. Then add the sweetcorn and allow to simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
Take it off the heat and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes before putting it in a food processor and whizzing until smooth. Pour it back into the saucepan and add the coconut milk and lemon juice – it’s best to do this while the soup is off the heat because coconut milk is prone to splitting. Your soup will still taste good but it will look like sick which many people find vaguely off-putting for some reason.
Put it back on a gentle heat and add a couple of handfuls of frozen sweetcorn for texture and some salt and pepper to taste.
This soup has the added benefit of being both gluten and lactose free and, as I just made it up, at least today hasn’t been a total dead loss.
There you have it. Pure comfort in a bowl. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some llamas to rescue.
P.S. If you are gluten intolerant, please check that your veg stock and your spices are GF friendly 🙂
Pesky Burger 