cooking with nothing

Curried roast parsnip and sweetcorn soup

I’ve been reading about the warming and cooling properties of certain food groups recently. I am – and always have been – a chronically cold person. Just ask my boyfriend (who, lucky for me, happens to be a warm person…)! This winter in Amsterdam we’ve had a sudden cold snap which froze the canals enough to be walked on. This most definitely doesn’t happen every year. It’s madness and coldness.

Parsnips belong to the ‘warming’ family of vegetables. Different methods of heating can also make foods more warming, such as baking, slow cooking or stir-frying. After a day strolling around on a frozen canal, this soup (which just happens to be also be vegan, despite its creaminess) warmed me up from the inside out. And that’s all the ‘warming’s and ‘heating’s I’ll attempt to use for now.

I’m still following Paul Pitchford’s food combining methods, which are reallllly helping my IBS symptoms. This is a basic starch-based meal, with only one starch and one fat.

Serves four

• 4 x large parsnips, cut into large chunks
• Coconut oil
• 2 x fresh corn cobs
• 1 TBSP x curry powder (mild or hot – your choice)
• Vegetable stock or water (about 3 or so cups)
• A small bunch of fresh coriander, diced
• 1 x onion, diced
• 2 x garlic cloves, diced

Heat the oven to 180C. Place the parsnips into an oven-proof dish and add a TBSP or so of coconut oil. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Add the shucked corn cobs to the same dish and roast until the parsnip is tender (about 30 minutes).

Add another TBSP of coconut oil to a soup pot on a medium heat and add the onions, garlic and curry powder. Cook until the onions and softened, then add the cooked parsnip. Cover with stock or water. Don’t add too much if you want a thick soup. You can always add more later. Shave the corn kernels off the cob with a knife straight into the pot, then simmer until warmed through. Blend, adding more water if necessary until the soup reaches your desired consistency. Sprinkle with coriander and serve. 

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