Roasted Autumn Vegetable Quinoa Soup | Vegan | Gluten Free

Our autumn has finally arrived and the time has come for big pots of soup filled with sweet, blistered, roasted vegetables and hearty warming spices. This Roasted Autumn Vegetable Quinoa Soup is my latest favourite and the chickpeas, quinoa, and roasted sweet potato, capsicum, and parsnip make the perfect antidote to the cold dry winds whispering through our creaky bay cottage.

I moved in full-time with Chris nearly a year ago to the day. Last night I found myself nesting in what has become our little home, and the beginning of our story together. I tidied and fussed and plumped up pillows until Chris finally said to me ‘you are really comfortable here now aren’t you?’. As I stirred a big pot of vegetable and quinoa soup on the stove I realised how at peace I am here now. After living with my parents my whole life, without even a move away for university, I was unsure and a little nervous when I first moved in with Chris. I knew the idiosyncrasies of my parents and they knew mine. I had all of my things, and all of my routines. And I had no idea how to live with someone else.

Sharing your space with someone you are in love with places you on a steep learning curve, especially if you want to be successful. You learn their routines, their patterns, and habits very quickly. There is some tip-toeing at first, but you have to be brave enough to open yourself up to critique and learn to make the space your home too. Over the past year Chris has seen me through the every day muck and mire, through the singing in the kitchen while cupcakes bake to the crumpled on the bed in tears because I can’t make the clouds in my head go away. There have been early morning races to the emergency room, midnight runs to the local ice cream shop, and sunset walks where we argue about gender politics, action movies, and everything in between. I have brought my books into the house – the one thing that makes a space truly mine, and worked out a truce with the postage stamp kitchen – cleaning up as you go is key. These four walls have become my house too, but the man beside me, eating soup and laughing at John Oliver, is what really makes this house a home.

This hearty vegetable, quinoa, and chickpea soup was born out of an abundance of autumn vegetables hanging around in our refrigerator at the end of the week. The flavoursome vegetable foundation of the soup is all of my favourite autumn vegetables: capsicum, sweet potato, carrot, and parsnip roasted with fresh rosemary, oregano, and thyme. While the vegetables were cooking I boiled up some quinoa and sauteed red onion, a decent dose of garlic, and a rich array of spices. Once the vegetables and quinoa are cooked, the whole lot is combined in the pot and gently warmed. The scent of roasted herbs and warmed spices will fill your house and chase away any chill. Turn your house into a home with big bowls of this belly warming soup served with love to the ones who make that house a home.

Roasted Autumn Vegetable Quinoa Soup

Vegan | Gluten Free | Serves 6 | Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat in a saucepan over a gentle heat until bubbling.

Ingredients

• 2 small sweet potato (~250 grams each)
• 2 large carrots
• 1 medium capsicum
• 1 medium parsnip
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 large red onion
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1.5L vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 400 gram (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C (400F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Peel and dice your sweet potatoes (about the size of a playing dice). Chop up carrots, parsnip, and capsicum into medium chunks. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft in the centre and starting to caramelise on the edges.
3. While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the quinoa. Rinse quinoa thoroughly and place in a large saucepan (about 3L capacity) with 2 cups of room temperature water. Bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and set aside until needed.
4. Peel and dice red onion and crush garlic cloves.
5. Using the same large saucepan heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Saute onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add cumin, paprika and coriander and cook until fragrant ~ 2 minutes. Add tomato paste, vegetable stock, and bay leaves. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and reduce to a simmer.
6. Add chickpeas, roasted vegetables (and any juices from the pan), and cooked quinoa. Cook until warmed through. Serve.

Curried Pumpkin Soup with Garlic-Thyme Millet | Vegan | Gluten Free

Creamy, curried pumpkin soup will keep out the autumn chills. My Curried Pumpkin Soup is heartily spiced, and the roasted garlic flavoured millet is the perfect compliment. This meal is healthy, hearty, easy to prepare, and the perfect way to warm up at the start of the season.

The first pot of pumpkin soup in autumn is a precious celebration in anticipation of what the season will bring. Autumn is the season of true bounty. We get the best of the final blush of summer – the ripest stone fruits, the sweetest final watermelon harvest, the juiciest tomatoes begging to be made into passata; and we also get the first harvest of the hardy fruits and vegetables that will see us through the cold winter months – creamy sweet potatoes, the crunchiest apples, sweet heavy grapes, and pretty smooth-skinned butternut pumpkins.

My Mum has made a version of this curried pumpkin soup since I was a child. Coming home from school on rainy winter days to a pot of gently bubbling soup and thickly buttered bread was a childhood delight, and something that still warms me down to my soul as an adult. Soup is pure comfort. And making soup from my Mum’s recipe is an extra layer of warmth. I know this soup is going to appear on our table frequently throughout the coming season. I have been coming home to leftovers of this soup since I made a big pot on the weekend. When I walk through the door, I know I am coming home to a bowl of comfort.

Mum uses a curry powder mix, but when I ran out and was at home on a rainy Sunday craving this soup, I didn’t want to venture to the shops so I broke the mixture down to its essence and put my own twist on a family tradition. My soup is a little spicier than Mum’s owing to my inclusion of chili powder. If you don’t want the soup too spicy or you are serving it to little kids, you can leave out the chili powder and I can promise you the soup will still be just as flavoursome. The chili powder is joined by ground dried coriander, turmeric, cumin, garlic, and black pepper for a fragrant bouquet of flavours. Along with your spices, butternut pumpkin, carrots, and onion, and a good quality vegetable stock are all you need to create this soup for dinner tonight. The millet is a filling addition, and the roasted garlic and thyme add a soothing element to the spicy soup. If you don’t have or like millet you could use quinoa or rice to the same effect.

Get ready to snuggle up with your beloved and a bowl of soup, and rest happily in the comfort that these bowls are full of thoroughly nourishing ingredients that will keep you healthy all winter long. This soup is creamy, but there is no cream required: butternut pumpkins bring their own special creaminess when simmer low and slow. Millet, as we’ve spoken about before is a buttery ancient seed that provides good amounts of iron and other minerals. This soup is the healthy comfort food answer to lengthening autumn nights, long runs in the drizzle, and a craving for comfort.

Curried Pumpkin Soup with Garlic-Thyme Millet

Gluten Free | Vegan | Serves 4 generously | Leftovers will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.
Reheat gently over a low heat, or in the microwave in short bursts

Ingredients

For the soup

• 1 kg (2 pounds) butternut pumpkin
• 2 medium brown onions
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons dried coriander
• 3 teaspoons dried ground cumin seeds
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4-1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
• 4 cups reduced salt vegetable stock

For the millet

• 1/2 head of garlic
• 3/4 cup dried millet
• 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Method

1. Peel and de-seed pumpkin and chop into cubes (about 2.5cm/1 inch). Peel and dice onion. Dice celery and carrot.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or stock pot over a medium heat. Add crushed garlic, onion, celery, carrot, turmeric, coriander, cumin, black powder, and chili powder. Saute until the onions are become clear and the spices are fragrant.
3. Tumble in your pumpkin cubes and stir until everything is well mixed.
4. Add vegetable stock and bring soup to the boil.
5. Reduce to a simmer and cook until pumpkin is very soft and is disintegrating in the stock. This will take about an hour.
6. While the pumpkin is cooking preheat your oven to 180C. Wrap garlic in aluminium foil and bake for 40-45 minutes or until cloves are softened. Allow to cool.
7. Rinse millet and place in medium saucepan along with vegetable stock. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover the saucepan with a lid. Allow to cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, stand for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. Keep covered until ready to serve.
8. Once soup is cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Use a stick blender to blend until smooth. Alternately you can puree this soup in a blender. WARNING: ALLOW SOUP TO COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE BLENDING. DO NOT BLEND HOT SOUP. Reheat over a low heat on the stove top.
9. Mash roasted garlic together with fresh thyme and olive oil. Mix through millet.
10. Ladle soup into bowls and top with spoonfuls of millet and extra fresh thyme if desired.