Watercress Soup

I needed milk, and I ended up going past one of my favourite organic shops. Inside I got distracted by all the things neatly stacked on the shelves, and it was only at the till I remembered - Milk! The girl behind the counter just laughed.

One of the things I got, was a bunch of watercress, thinking that I'd try and make a watercress soup! I have seen it on TV many a time, and I wondered what it tasted like. Surprisingly good! Looking forward to having the leftovers tomorrow, mmmmm.

Watercress Soup
(Serves 2-3, about 215-145 calories each)

2 tsp coconut oil or 1 tbsp olive oil
200g potatoes, washed and cut into dice
1 large or two medium onions, finely chopped (about 200g)
1 fat garlic clove, or two smaller, finely chopped
600ml good vegetable stock
Black pepper
125g watercress

- Start by heating the oil in a pan and add your potatoes, onion and garlic. Stir for a few minutes until evenly coated and glistening.

- Pour in stock, and season with a little black pepper. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

- Now, add your watercress, stir, cover and heat through for a few minutes. Then, either with a stick blender or food processor, whizz the soup until smooth. Season to taste and serve with good crusty bread and perhaps a bit of crème fraîche, fat free fromage frais, or natural yogurt swirled through.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I made a bigger batch of this after first making it, as I volunteered to be the host of a wine, cheese and cracker night last night, due to my friend who was going to have it being ill, poor thing! The evening started with fancy niblets, soup, wine, and ended up with.... More goodies! I had also made some marzipan marbles, and here you can see some of the many things that we enjoyed:

Next time, I think we should limit what people bring to a few items each, as we went quite over the top this time! We were eight people and were eating like Kings! At end of the evening, we made mulled wine, tea and coffee. Great evening!

I hope you had a good weekend too, and that the Monday has treated you well! Soon I will snuggle up with a cup of watercress soup that I have left, I made a pot of soup three size this recipe, and I have a small pot left, mmmmm!



Original source:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/recipes-view.php?title=watercress-soup

- Jules