Living Greener: Soups to keep colds at bay

WE are at the same latitude as the southern tip of Alaska, so the winter nights are long and bleak, a time for ghost stories and warm fires, and living off the preserves of the summer garden.

I plan on spending most of the weekend curled up by the fire. At this time of year I want to make foods that are fast, easy, warming and filled with a lot of garlic and vitamins to keep colds at bay, and that usually means soup.

Garlic soup 

26 garlic cloves, unpeeled 

26 cloves peeled 

2 tablespoons of olive oil 

2 tablespoons of butter 

1 teaspoon of cayenne 

½ cup of fresh ginger, chopped 

 2 large sliced onions 

1 ½ teaspoons of fresh thyme 

1 ½ cups of coconut milk 

3 ½ cups of vegetable broth 

Salt, pepper, lemon juice and soy sauce to taste 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Put 26 unpeeled garlic cloves in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and olive oil and toss to coat them.

Bake for about 45 minutes until golden-brown and tender. When they are cool squeeze the cloves out and discard the skins.

Melt the butter in a large pot over a medium heat, add the onions, thyme, ginger and cayenne. Cook for about six minutes. Add the roasted garlic and raw garlic, cover, and cook for about three minutes.

Add the vegetable broth and simmer for about 20 minutes until the garlic is tender. Puree the soup until smooth and add coconut milk, and heat to a simmer. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and soy sauce to taste.

Red Lentil & Coconut Soup

400g red lentils 

1 heaped tablespoon of turmeric powder 

2 teaspoons of grated ginger 

8 garlic cloves 

2 litre of vegetable broth 

2 400-millilitre cans of coconut milk 

4 leeks 

100g of washed and chopped spinach 

Lime juice, fish sauce and soy sauce to taste 

Bring the broth to a boil and stir in the lentils, turmeric, ginger and garlic. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the leeks and coconut milk, and simmer for 10 minutes more. Turn off the heat, puree and add the spinach. Add lime juice, soy sauce and/or fish sauce to taste.

American Chili 

500g of pork mince 

1 large onion 

3 cloves of garlic 

1 tin of kidney beans or black beans 

1 tin of crushed tomatoes 

1 cup of vegetable broth 

Seasoning: oregano, chili powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Dice the onion and fry in olive oil until soft, add minced garlic until translucent, and add the mince and fry until brown.

Add the tomatoes and kidney beans, then one teaspoon each of oregano, cumin, coriander and chili powder, plus salt and pepper to taste. Add the vegetable broth, and let simmer for a half hour.