Food and flexibilty

Its good to be flexible with food, in fact it’s a must.  I wonder how many people are like me, we plan our menus, shop for ingredients and then mid week change our minds about what we want to cook.

Ok so shop everyday, but that’s not always possible and we have many other things to do and not much time to do them in.  I was looking for something fast and easy and I came across a recipe using cavolo nero (I have never used it before) and pasta.  The sauce looked fantastic and I could almost taste it.  Well I didn’t cook it, its still on my list of things to cook but instead I did this soup:

My ingredients are always a bit of this a bit of that depending on what I have at the time but this recipe is well worth sharing.

Leek soup with a difference

2 large leeks or 3 small – sliced

100 g of cavolo nero – chopped

1 large onion

3 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped

1 stick of lemon grass finely chopped (adds a really different flavour to the soup)

1.5  litres  of  good stock,  chicken or vegetable depending if you are a vegetarian

Olive oil and butter

Salt and pepper

put half butter and oil (just enough to cover the bottom) in a large saucepan,

Add vegetables and stir for about 10 minutes to soften and also bring out all the flavours

Add the stock, salt and pepper

Cook slowly for about 1 hour and then liquidise.  You may get small pieces of lemon grass that don't liquidise, in which case if it is for a special occasion then sieve

Serve with some olive bread and a spoon of yogurt, add some chili if you like.  It makes a great light lunch.

Bon appetit